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Blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches

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The blessing of same-sex unions is currently an issue about which some Christian Churches are at present in disagreement with the traditional views. These disagreements are primarily centered on the interpretation of various scripture passages related to homosexuality, and in some Churches on the varying understandings of homosexuality in psychology, genetics and other scientific data. While various Church bodies have widely varying practices and teachings, individual Christians of every major tradition are involved in practical (orthopraxy) discussions about how to respond to the issue.

See also: List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality

Contents

[edit] Terminology

[edit] Theological differences between support and opposition

Those Christians and Churches which support blessing of same-sex unions do so from several perspectives:

  • Interpretations of the Bible that deemphasize Old and New Testament passages regarding homosexual practice. Appeals to APA statements regarding homosexuality may influence this belief.
  • Believes that "the inclusiveness of Baptism" requires equal access to having relationships "blessed" by the church.
  • Belief that "all love is from God and is a reflection of and participation in Divine Love". And therefore that love present in same sex relationships ought to be recognized/ceremonialized in a church setting.
  • It is a matter of justice. Desire to provide "equality" or "equal access" in marriage services so as not to "marginalize" LGBT people or relationships.
  • It is a "compassionate response" that improves gay-straight relations and reduces anti-gay hate speech.


Those Christians and Churches which oppose same-sex unions and same-sex marriage do so from some or all of the followng reasons:

  • Marriage is a Sacrament ("Matrimony") defined first in the Book of Genesis, then later in the teachings of Christ as a union of man and woman.
  • The Roman Catholic Church, in particular, also appeals to the reasoning of the Natural Law Tradition . According to Natural Law the "natural order" of human sexulity is oriented toward the opposite sex for several reasons:
  • The natural physical complementarity between the sexes.
  • The biology of sexuality is oriented toward procreation; homosexuality from this perspective is without merit.
  • Many churches rely on the words of the Bible as Divine Revelation (Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition).
  • Traditional or literal interpretations of Old and New Testament passages opposing homosexuality and homosexual activity.
  • Moral condemnations against rectal intercourse that transcend biblical interpretation and that some say derive from homophobia.

[edit] Controversy between same-sex union and marriage

Some people feel that same-sex unions are middle ground between same sex marriage and condemnation of same sex relationships. Unions as a 'legal status' between individuals does not by itself conflict with Church teachings about the sacredness of "Marriage".

The Episcopal Church USA, many dioceses of which permit the blessing of same-sex unions, nevertheless rejected at their 2006 General Convention a resolution allowing the solemnization of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, where same sex marriage is recognized by civil law.

[edit] Churches unfavorable to same-sex unions and marriage

According to a 2002 study by the Marriage Law Project, 97.6 % of US Christians and 99.97% of Christians worldwide presently believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. <ref>http://marriagelaw.cua.edu/publications/wrr.pdf</ref> A recent Pew research forum <ref>http://pewforum.org/docs/index.php?DocID=39</ref> indicated that 80% of U.S. Evangelicals, 54% of U.S. Protestants, and 55% of U.S. Catholics oppose Gay marriage. The Pew study also showed that while 59% of Americans oppose gay marriage, a smaller amount (51%) oppose granting some legal rights to gay couples.

Translated to church practice, same sex marriage is forbidden in a majority of Christian congregations including Roman Catholics, Protestants (mainline, evangelical, non-denominational, and fundamentalist churches), and Orthodox (the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Oriental Orthodox Churches) Churches.

By nature of this religious understanding of marriage, when churches use the term "Union" in a same sex blessing ceremony, they may or may not be blessing this union in an equivalent way as they would bless a "marriage" as opposed to blessing the commitment between the two indviduals. Some Christian bodies are exploring the manner in which same sex couples could or should be blessed (or not) by the church. <ref>http://www.integrityusa.org/samesexblessings/slc97.htm</ref> Because same sex religious unions are not widespread and because civil unions do not require religious officiation, documentation of the incidence of church blessing of same sex couples is difficult.

[edit] Churches favorable to same-sex marriage

Due to its "local option", a number of congregations and ministers of the United Church of Canada (a merger of Congregationalist, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations in Canada following presbyterian polity) officiate at same-sex marriages, which are fully legal in Canada.

In the Anglican Communion, Integrity Toronto has been divided over whether to continue pressing for same-sex blessings, or to revise their goals to seek full marriage rights [1].

The predominately gay Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches performs same-sex marriages.

The Mennonite Church in the Netherlands offers marriage to both heterosexual and same-gender couples.

The Unitarian Universalists perform same-sex marriages.

The Swedenborgian Church of North America allows ministers to choose whether to perform same-sex marriages [2]. In addition, same sex couples can be married under the care of many "unprogrammed" Quaker meetings.

Many smaller denominations, such as the Eucharistic Catholic Church also solemnize same-sex marriages.

[edit] Churches favorable to Same-sex union

[edit] Anglicanism

The practice of same-sex blessing is officially sanctioned in some parishes of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the USA. It is also, according to the current Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Andrew Hutchison, widely practised in parishes of other churches of the Anglican Communion, without formal sanction but connived at by their hierarchies. For example, in the Church of England, blessings have been taking place since the 1970s.

The Diocese of New Westminster and the Episcopal Church (USA) both took synodical action to authorise public Rites for the Blessing of same sex unions. This created tensions within the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury requested that the Lambeth Commission review the matter. The Commission issued a report in October, 2004 recommending a moratorium on public Rites of Blessing of same sex unions and further consideration and study of the matter in preparation for the Lambeth Conference of 2008.

The Diocese of Niagara voted to allow the blessings at its 2004 synod, but the Diocesan Bishop refused to endorse the resolution. Nonetheless, the vote prompted some other local church ordinaries to temporarily ease up on ecumenical relations with the Anglican Diocese.

[edit] Action by the Diocese of New Westminster

Blessing of same sex unions became a subject of media attention in the Vancouver area in May, 2003 when Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster announced that he had given priests in some parishes the authority to bless gay and lesbian unions.

Bishop Ingham issued a rite of blessing of people in committed same sex unions on May 23, 2003. This was done in response to a request by the Diocesan Synod in June, 2002. The diocese considers that the blessing of same sex couples is one part of their work of community outreach and care for parishioners. The blessing is a way that some priests use to ensure that homosexual people who seek to be included in the Anglican Communion feel safe and respected.

The blessing is a “pastoral tool.” Some priests in some parishes (six in all) bless permanent, faithful relationships. Permission is granted by the bishop only when a priest requests it, and a parish has decided by majority vote, that they want to be a place of blessing. Ingham says of the practice:

I insist only that those on all sides of the issue respect one another and that everyone should maintain the order of the church. Our goal in the Anglican Church in the Greater Vancouver area is to be a church that accommodates differences.

Not all Anglicans wish to participate. In fact some parishes are deeply opposed. They have complained to Church authorities and the matter is currently under review within the Anglican Communion. The matter is regarded so seriously by many bishops and parishes within the Anglican Communion in Africa, Asia and Latin America that it could lead to schism.

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2004 voted to defer a decision of same-sex blessings until 2007, but also to "Affirm the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-sex relationships".

[edit] Resolution of the Episcopal Church of the USA

The issue of blessing of same-sex unions was the subject of a resolution at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the USA held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 30 - August 8, 2003. After debate, the following resolution was concurred in and became an Act of the Convention:

C051: Blessing of Committed Same-Gender Relationships. Affirms that our life together is grounded as expressed in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral; that homosexual persons are children of God, and that differences exist in how best to express that in the pastoral care of those who intend to live in monogamous noncelibate unions; that we expect such relationships to be characterized by fidelity and monogamy; and recognizes "that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions." Commits us to continued study and discernment, including resources to be compiled by a special commission to be appointed by the Presiding Bishop.

[edit] Report of the Lambeth Commission

The Archbishop of Canterbury requested the Lambeth Commission on Communion to report to him by September, 2004. The Commission was asked to consider the legal and theological implications flowing from decisions related to homosexuality that were apparently threatening the communion. In addition to decisions relating to the blessing of same sex unions, the Commission was asked to examine the decision of the Episcopal Church (USA) to appoint a priest, Gene Robinson, in a committed same sex relationship as one of its bishops. The Commission was charged with specifically considering the effects on communion: "impaired and broken communion," between provinces of the Anglican Communion over the above decisions.

In its report, known as the Windsor Report, the Commission put forward the following general findings:

The Commission regrets that without attaching sufficient importance to the interests of the wider Communion:
  • The Episcopal Church (USA) proceeded with the consecration of Gene Robinson
  • The 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church (USA) declared that 'local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions'[80]
  • The Diocese of New Westminster approved the use of public Rites for the Blessing of same sex unions
  • The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada issued a statement affirming the integrity and sanctity of committed same sex relationships
  • A number of primates and other bishops have taken it upon themselves to intervene in the affairs of other provinces of the Communion.

The Commission called for a moratorium on the blessing of same sex unions, and recommended that bishops who have authorised such rites in the United States and Canada "be invited to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorisation." The report was roundly condemned by the gay community and progressive theologians for its partiality. (For example, while it calls for both liberals and conservatives to express regret for actions contributing to disunity, it acknowledges that conservatives may have committes such actions out of a sense of duty, but extends no such understanding to the Dioceses of New Westminster or New Hampshire).

[edit] Utrecht Union Churches

Four churches of the Utrecht Union, which shares full communion with the Anglican Churches through the Bonn Agreement, also permit such blessings: namely, Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands (the mother church) permits blessings of gay civil marriages, and the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, and Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany permit blessings of gay civil unions. The Old Catholic Church of Austria also permits such blessings (no civil unions there). Because of this (as well as the ordination of women), the Old Catholic Church in Slovakia and Polish National Catholic Church (USA) seceded from the Union in 2004.

[edit] Baptist Churches

The Alliance of Baptists has supported the legal right to marry <ref>http://www.allianceofbaptists.org/sssm-2004.htm</ref>; its position on corollary church services is unclear.

[edit] Church of Scotland

The 2006 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted that blessing civil partnerships should be a matter of conscience for individual ministers. Conservatives in the Kirk argued that the reform would have to be ratified by local presbyteries <ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-2198359,00.html</ref>.

[edit] Lutheran Churches

The Church of Sweden and the Church of Denmark, (in full communion with the Anglican Churches of the British Isles) through the Porvoo Communion, allow blessings of same-sex couples.

In 2006, the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada's full communion partner through the Waterloo Declaration, voted to allow a "local option" provision similar to that in New Westminster, precipitating a dispute between the synod and the national church (which had previously rejected the proposal) as to where the authority to make that decision lay. In September of that year, the ELCIC's national church council ruled that authority to permit the local option lay with the National Convention <ref>http://www.elcic.ca/WebSite/ELCICInfo.nsf/infoview/E56B87F38DE646FA862571EE007077EB?OpenDocument</ref>. The Council agreed to intiate further study on the issue and to bring forward another motion permitting the local option to the 2007 National Convention.

In addition, some Lutheran, United and Reformed churches within the Protestant Church in Germany<ref>http://huk.org/aktuell/segnung-uebersicht.htm</ref>, in Switzerland, in the Netherlands and Austria bless same-gender unions.

[edit] Presbyterian Church (USA)

The Presbyterian Church USA has a limited allowance for such blessings, but does not officially endorse that the unions be consummated.

The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) has ruled that same-sex ceremonies are not forbidden, as long as they are not considered to be the same as marriage services. <ref>http://www.wfn.org/2006/01/msg00291.html</ref>

[edit] Methodism

The Methodist Church of Great Britain voted in 2005 to allow a local option for ministers who wishes to perform same-sex blessings. However, a year later, the Church voted not to allow formal blessings for same-sex partnerships in its churches after all. Ministers may now instead offer informal, private prayers for couples.

[edit] Moravian Church (North America)

The Moravian Church in North America's Northern Province has passed several liberal resolutions on homosexuality, but has not yet been able to "address the issue of a marriage covenant between homosexual persons" <ref>http://www.mcnp.org/Documents/Resolution_6_booklet.pdf</ref>.

[edit] Protestant Church in the Netherlands

The Protestant Church in the Netherlands has chosen not to address marriage in its post-merger canon law; however, the by-laws of the church allow for the blessing of relationships outside of marriage.<ref>See http://www.protestantchurch.nl/default.asp?rIntNavMotherNavId=938&inc=info&rIntNavId=938&rIntId=1649</ref>

[edit] Unity Church

Some ministers of the Unity School of Christianity officiate at commitment ceremonies. The Church prints certificates to recognise these occasions.

[edit] Churches that are neither favorable nor unfavorable to same-sex unions and marriage

The United Church of Christ has no formal rules requiring or prohibiting solemnization of wedding vows, but owing to its Congregational polity and constitution <ref> See http://www.ucc.org/aboutus/constitution.htm#LOCAL</ref>, each Local Church is "autonomous in the management of its own affairs" and has the "right to operate in the way customary to it"; it cannot be "abridge[d] or impair[ed]" by other UCC agencies, and so each congregation has the freedom to bless or prohibit any kind of marriage or relationship in whatever way they discern appropriate. Thus a congregation may choose at their discretion to solemnise same-sex marriages, to bless same-sex unions, or refuse to perform any ceremony for same-sex couples, or refuse to perform any kind of marriage for anyone. There are no available statistics on how many UCC congregations solemnize same sex relationships, but there are documented cases where this happens <ref>http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/gsrev25-7.pdf</ref> and documented cases where congregations have taken stands against marriage between same gender couples.<ref>See http://www.southernconrenew.org/lex%20confession.html</ref>

[edit] See also

C. FitzSimmons Allison

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] Sources

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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