UK: Male priests marry in Anglican church's first gay 'wedding'

The Telegraph ^ | 6/15/2008 | Jonathan Wynne-Jones

[melsec]

‘in defiance of the Bishop of London’ what has he done about it- It’s as much his fault if he does nothing

[sushiman]

Cowell is 50 . None of the articles I’ve read mention the age of Lord for some reason . He looks a heck of a lot younger . Must be one of those “ Daddy “ deals , huh ?

[bruinbirdman]

Doesn't look like a "blessing" to me:

Only the bride was missing

For this was Britain's first gay "wedding", held in one of the Church of England's oldest and most attractive churches.

St Bartholomew the Great at West Smithfield, in the City of London, dates from the 12th century but it can have seen few more historic events than this.

Greeted with a fanfare of trumpets, the Rev Peter Cowell and the Rev Dr David Lord celebrated their civil union with the kind of pomp and pageantry reserved for royal weddings. The couple walked up the aisle to Mendelssohn's march from A Midsummer Night's Dream dressed in morning suits, with their bridesmaids and best men following behind.

A robed choir sang in Latin as incense was burned on the high altar.

The service was rooted in the most traditional style, from the music to the liturgy, which was based on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The Rev Martin Dudley addressed the congregation: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together these men in a holy covenant of love and fidelity."

To conservative Anglicans the use of those words in such circumstances might be blasphemous, but the packed pews indicated the level of support for the couple.

Family and friends from as far away as New Zealand, where Dr Lord grew up, joined in the hymns, which included Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven and All My Hope on God is Founded. Marie Cowell read from the Book of 1 Corinthians before her son, who is a hospital chaplain at Barts and priest at Westminster Abbey – one of the Queen's churches – exchanged vows with his partner.

"I, Peter, take thee, David, as my partner, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part; and thereto I pledge thee my troth."

Placing the ring on the fourth finger of his partner's hand, he continued: "With this ring I thee bind, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

They then recited poems from Shakespeare and Philip Sidney to one another, before taking part in communion, which was received by more than half the congregation.

Among those celebrating with the couple were some of the Church's most senior clergy, including Canon Robert Wright from Westminster Abbey and chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons.

"It was incredibly grand – the most spectacular wedding I've ever been to," said one guest. "They had a 10-tier wedding cake. I've never seen a cake that big."

A champagne reception was held in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital, where Dr Lord, an ordained priest, works as a doctor. It is there they met five years ago.

They left in an open landau and headed for the Ivy restaurant with close friends and family.

[sushiman]

Reverend Martin Dudley, who led the service, shows the Queen around St Bartholomew the Great in 2004

[Albion Wilde]

"Mawwiage..."

[livius]

I started laughing at your post, and then I realized...it probably won’t even take 15 years this time.

[Albion Wilde]

Although some liberal clergy have carried out "blessing ceremonies" for homosexual couples in the past, this is the first time a vicar has performed a "wedding ceremony", using a traditional marriage liturgy, with readings, hymns and a Eucharist.

Rumblings in the Body over this one. This one might get spewed.

[WellyP]

“Fudge Packers”

[Albion Wilde]

"I believe that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, but I see nothing wrong with blessing a couple who want to make a life-long commitment to one another."

Well, DUH.... we can see that you see nothing wrong, Einstein.

Wonder what God sees?

[sageb1]

Please. The article is bad enough. Don’t make it worse.

[Mrs. Don-o]

The majority of California voters already voted against this abomination. I don't have any evidence that that voting block is eroding, and furthermore, people may be even angrier now that their democratic will has been trampled underfoot once again by the unelected black-robed philosopher-kings. And queens.

For God's sake, stand up and fight.

[NYer]

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God to join these men in a holy covenant of love and fidelity. Such a covenant shows us the mystery of the union between God and God's people and between Christ and the Church."

Utter nonsense!

Catholic Ping List
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[Bahbah]

The couple walked up the aisle to Mendelssohn's march from A Midsummer Night's Dream dressed in morning suits, with their bridesmaids and best men following behind.

God help us.

[madprof98]

He called on Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to take decisive action if the Anglican Church were not to "disintegrate".

Wolf! Wolf!

[johniegrad]

Mr Dudley agreed to conduct the service despite Bishop Chartres warning that Church guidelines – drawn up when the Civil Partnerships Act was introduced – do not allow formal blessings of gay relationships. He argued that it was not a wedding but a blessing and that he was not "offering" blessing services, but responding to personal requests from friends. "I believe that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, but I see nothing wrong with blessing a couple who want to make a life-long commitment to one another."

Legalistic parsing that Bill Clinton would admire.

[Secret Agent Man]

They don’t have the balls to deal with this abomination in their church ranks properly. Let the denomination fail and let the righteous within go to other, sound branches of Christianity.

Anyway, the Muslims will soon take care of the homosexual brits pretty soon, and it isn’t going to be ery pretty at all.

[Fractal Trader]

Anglican ping

Read the comments in post 35 — disgusting pack of lies!

[johniegrad]

My comments were a disgusting pack of lies?

[Chode]

you ASK for it... you GOT it... ZOT!!!

[sionnsar]

Not enough of your comments to constitute a pack of lies. I’m sure he meant the quoted material.