Anglican priest facing opposition for arranging his own commitment ceremony at church

[shenmue]

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/09/15/gay-priest-facing-backlash-over-plans-to-hold-commitment-ceremony-in-church/

Rev. Dominic McClean of Leicester, England, is already in a civil partnership with his partner. Although LGBT marriage is legal in England, the Church of England has yet to approve of such ceremonies, even for its own clergy.

[rug]

1. The CoE recognizes marriage as a sacrament.

It's going to take some theological rebooting to acknowledge same sex marriages as a sacramental marriage in addition to a legal one. How they resolve this will be interesting as it's the same theological hurdle the Catholic Church has.

Blessing a same sex union is less of a problem. I don't know if the CoE provides for that but the Episcopal church already has a ceremony for the blessing (as opposed to a sacrament) of same gender unions.

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/12/03/liturgy-for-blessing-same-gender-relationships-begins-provisional-use/

[okasha]

2. As usual, the Anglicans are chugging along

a century or so behind their rebellious American colonials.

The Episcopal Church service has a variation at the end of the ceremony that allows it to be a sacramental marriage in states in which same-sex marriage is legal.The Anglican/Episcopal theology of marriage is in part that the sacrament is administered not by the officient, but is bestowed by the partners upon each other. If I recall correctly, this is also true in the Catholic Church, and is why a promise to marry was once considered as binding in canon law as an actual celebration of Holy Matrimony. (Something that led England into political and religious upheaval for more than half a century. )

[rug]

3. That's curious.

If it's a sacrament it should not be contingent on whether the civil law recognizes it where another does not.

Yes, that is the teaching, that the Church as a body recognizes the intent of the partners. That'[s why the process of annulment scrutinizes the intentions of the parties and whether there is an impediment or disability to enter into such a relationship. It will be fascinating to see how this theology is applied when the parties are of the same gender.

[okasha]

4. Sorry, I think I didn't word that very clearly.

As I understand it, the sacramental nature of the ceremony is not affected by whether the partners can be legally recognized as a married couple. What is affected is the question of whether or not the ceremony makes them a legally (as well as sacramentally) married couple.

[rug]

5. That makes sense.