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29059. jexster - 6/13/2008 3:45:56 AM Pastoral Letter on Same Sex Marriage - Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of CA
ruh roh
Pastoral Letter from our Bishop Regarding Same-sex Marriage
June 9, 2008
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I welcome the ruling of the California Supreme Court affirming the fundamental right of all people to marry. I am writing to you now to recommend a path to use this decision to strengthen our support of our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered sisters and brothers, and our continued witness to God’s inclusive love.
Clergy and lay leaders in the diocese have been working for the rights of LGBT people and for their full inclusion in our Church for more than forty years. Today, we continue to walk a journey that includes:
• Bringing the witness of our LGBT sisters and brothers to this summer’s Lambeth Conference,
• Combating a ballot initiative this November that will attempt to take away the rights recently recognized by the California Supreme Court,
• Providing leadership at next summer's General Convention to bring our marriage practices and theology in line with our fundamental baptismal theology.
For far too long the onus has fallen on marginalized people to bear the burden of inequalities that exist within the Church, and the decision by our state’s Supreme Court has given us the opportunity to level the playing field.
To that end, the Diocese of California seeks to provide, by advocacy and example, a way forward for The Episcopal Church so that the marriage of same-sex couples will be a part of our official marriage rites, without distinction. Although The Episcopal Church does not have canonical rites for same-sex marriage, it is our goal that all couples be treated equally by the Church, as they are equally loved by God.
I therefore provide you with the following pastoral guidelines:29060. jexster - 6/13/2008 3:46:24 AM
• I urge you to encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service and then being blessed in the Episcopal Church. I will publicly urge all couples to follow this pattern.
• For now, the three rites approved for trial use under the pastoral direction of the bishop, adopted by resolution at the 2007 Diocesan Convention (see appendix), should be commended to all couples (again, regardless of orientation) to bless secular marriages.
• All marriages should be performed by someone in one of the secular categories set forth in California Family Code, section 400 (see appendix), noting that any person in the state of California can be deputized to perform civil marriages. The proper sphere for Episcopal clergy is the blessing portion of the marriage.
• The understanding of The Episcopal Church currently is that blessings are an extension of the pastoral office of the bishop. I ask that you continue to inform me of all same-sex blessings.
• Couples who have been married under the auspices of the California Supreme Court ruling must have the same pre-marriage counseling as that required of any couple seeking marriage or blessing of marriage in The Episcopal Church. This should be understood as an offering of the Church’s support for marriage.
• I urge Episcopalians, clergy and lay, to volunteer as Deputy Marriage Commissioners. There are over 4,000 civil same-sex marriages planned in a short period of time in the city of San Francisco alone and the city is asking for help in meeting demand. I intend to volunteer for this at my earliest opportunity. This would be one sign of affirmation for the Supreme Court ruling from our diocese. By city requirement, clergy will not be allowed to wear collars when presiding at secular marriages. (For more information about how to be deputized, see the attached appendix.)
• All people receiving blessings of civil marriages in the Diocese of California are free to use the same degree of publicity (e.g., newspaper notices). 29061. jexster - 6/13/2008 3:47:18 AM
These are interim measures as the Diocese of California and The Episcopal Church continue our journey in the context of this prophetic opportunity provided by the California Supreme Court’s ruling. I have already initiated a process to arrive at a more studied, permanent answer for Episcopal clergy presiding at same-sex marriages in this diocese. That process includes the formation of a panel of diocesan clergy to make recommendations about how to move toward equality of marriage rites for all people. These recommendations will be discussed across the diocese resulting in an official diocesan policy.
In the coming days, I will publicly state my opposition to the initiative to overturn the Supreme Court ruling. The Diocese of California will publish advertising around June 17 celebrating the Supreme Court ruling and inviting same-sex couples to our churches for pre-marital counseling and nourishment in communities of faith.
As always, I welcome your wisdom, your insights and your input on these matters, and I continue in my commitment to work for a Church that sees all of God’s children through the same eyes that God does.
Peace,
The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus
Bishop
29062. jexster - 6/13/2008 4:08:17 AM Translation: Since the Church has no rite for marrying Adam and Steve, it will no longer marry Adam and Eve in the Diocese of California
xoxoxo
The Bishop of California
 29063. jexster - 6/15/2008 5:52:58 PM Creating equality for all
Bishop Marc Andrus, who leads a six-county Bay Area diocese based in San Francisco, is recommending a split between civil and church weddings to create equality for all.
Andrus is suggesting that all couples go to county clerks' offices or have a purely civil ceremony elsewhere. As a second step, Andrus is advising that they return to the church for a blessing. Andrus is recommending that all couples - regardless of sexual orientation - use one of the three rites approved for same-sex blessings.
"This allows the church to focus on what is genuinely spiritual about marriage and leaves the legal parts that have to do with registering and legal rights - which are tremendously important, and why we're supporting this ruling - in the hands of the state," he said.
Andrus said it is part of a natural order that churches might lead the state, and that the state might lead the church.
"We seek to intently follow Christ, but we don't contain Christ," Andrus said. "Christ transcends the boundaries of the church. ... It's not a surprise to me that the culture is going to manifest Christ in a way that summons the church to new realities. I really welcome that. I think that's the way it's meant to be." 29064. Jenerator - 6/17/2008 12:22:14 AM Jexster,
Remember when I mentioned the principle of nasikh/abrogation last year? It was when we were discussing Islam.
I found a whopper of an article. When you have time, check it out, it's illuminating:
Essay Regarding the Basic Rule of the Blood, Wealth and Honour of the Disbelievers. 29065. jexster - 6/17/2008 12:58:53 AM Who wrote that?
I can scarcely understand all that Muzzie talk about kafirs, kafurs etc..I don't think the author likes me
Thanks be to Allah he don't want me to convert. What a boring religion. 29066. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 6/27/2008 5:14:07 PM 
29067. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 6/27/2008 5:16:21 PM 
29068. jexster - 7/6/2008 12:50:34 AM The Archbishop of York...
SAY WHAT?!?!?!?
 29069. David Ehrenstein - 7/6/2008 2:55:22 PM Click. 29070. jexster - 7/6/2008 3:23:54 PM Damn how did you get Harpers to cough up a cover story? I tried. I am a subscriber
Good article 29071. David Ehrenstein - 7/6/2008 4:44:20 PM Google is your friend. 29072. wonkers2 - 7/6/2008 4:48:01 PM Too bad. The Episcopal Church, along with the Quakers and Unitarians, is one of the last bastions of Chrisitan tolerance and rationality. 29073. jexster - 7/8/2008 2:26:25 AM Church of England vote opens door to female bishops
Synod rejects compromise deal and raises fears of split with traditionalists
29074. jexster - 7/16/2008 12:23:50 AM Natural Blues
29075. jexster - 8/7/2008 1:22:40 AM Archbishop of Canterbury: Gay relationships "relfect the love of God" 29076. jexster - 8/10/2008 8:52:16 PM Better lock up the cat
Ricardo Avila and William Bonnell invite the parish to their nuptial Mass, with Fr. Paul as celebrant, on Saturday, 18 October 2008, at 3pm, at St. Francis’ Episcopal Church (399 San Fernando Way at Ocean Avenue, San Francisco). For directions and other information, see www.theknot.com/ourwedding/ricoavila&wmbonnell.
B4 they try to marry her29077. jexster - 9/8/2008 2:18:26 AM In the greatest city named after Saint Francis, San Francisco, CA, the first exact replica of the Porziuncola Chapel is being built. This project has the full cooperation of the friars in Assisi and is under the high patronage of His Eminence Cardinal William Levada, Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco, Archbishop of San Francisco, George Niederauer and Angela Alioto, SFO. The new chapel will be a center for pilgrimages and for peace initiatives for the whole U.S. and for the whole world.
Wikipedia
Gotta learn to READ THE FINE PRINT
I have to send in a written RSVP for Porziuncola Shrine Dedication at the end of this month which must be received by Wednesday. Almost missed reading that little detail
The invite is from Newsom Angela and the Archbishop with "sponsors" from Episcopal Bps Andrus, Swing to the Buddhists, the Jews and the goddamn Muslims. Ratzinger's Ratzinger, Cardinal Levada, leads the luminaries
I actually have already been there but don't specifically recall the Basilica but do remember my grandmother showing me the Porziuncola with hushed and reverent tones
National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi
The exciting Renaissance Project will recreate the little church that Saint Francis himself rebuilt. He named this little church the "Porziuncola", meaning "little corner of the world", that is, his "portion".
It was here that Saint Francis began to understand his vocation to follow the Gospel and give up all worldly goods, pray for and advocate peace, and of course, take care of the poor and sick. The Porziuncola is also the place where he founded the Franciscan Order of the Friars Minor in 1209, "establishing here his home".29078. jexster - 9/13/2008 1:55:49 AM Spiritual Warfare Continues
Poor Clares
EWTN
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