When You Don't Agree, Give Up

That is what the Boston Globe reports that the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts is thinking of doing. Since they can't come to an agreement (that's what happens when you don't have a Pope) they are considering doing away with officiating at weddings. Couples may choose to marry in or out of church with a justice of the peace or minister from another denomination or even religion as the officiant.

Then, the couple may have their marriage blessed by an Episcopalian priest.

Episcopal priests in Massachusetts have been particularly engaged in the issue of gay marriage, because the diocese here has been strongly supportive of gay rights, but the national church's regulations define marriage as a heterosexual institution. The local bishop, M. Thomas Shaw , a supporter of same-sex marriage, has decreed that local Episcopal priests cannot sign the marriage licenses of same-sex couples, but can bless those couples after they are legally married by clergy of another denomination or by a civil official.

"I feel this is a way to equalize an inequity in what Episcopal clergy can do for gay folks and straight folks," said the Rev. Margaret (Mally) E. Lloyd, rector of Christ Church in Plymouth. Lloyd is one of five Episcopal priests sponsoring the resolution.

"Right now, we can only offer blessings for gay folks who are married, and it's not fair," she said. "The church moves slowly to make changes in canon law, so what can we do in the meantime? This is something good for the diocese to wrestle with."

Read the rest of the article here.

And so it goes.