The blog

The blog—informal opinions and chat about the parish

Friday, June 26, 2015

Gay Marriage

Of course, the big news of the day is that same-sex marriage is now legal nationwide in the USA. For St. Matthew's, this is a reason to rejoice. We already have an unusually large number of LGBT people, some in partnerships that go back several decades. (One Facebook post said, "We just might make an announcement." A reader responded, "Don't rush into anything," to which the original writer said "It's just 20 years.")

The 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church began yesterday in Salt Lake City, and it was already planning on dealing with gay marriage. Father Joe Ashby of Grace Episcopal in Mansfield pointed out to me the other day that the Supreme Court's action really isn't going to govern the church's action because it has to do with civil law. As a denomination, we're on record as open and affirming toward gay people, but there have been, over the years, a lot of people who objected to this attitude. My guess is that the national body will spend a lot of time debating how to solemnize these unions and what to call them.

On the local level in Ashland, things will be much more laid-back and rejoicing. The congratulations are already flying back and forth on Facebook. LGBT people aren't just a barely-tolerated side-show in our church; in fact the congregation is so welcoming that sexual orientation is a total non-issue here. But now we might have to find all the decorations for a couple of weddings.

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