Posted on 07/16/2011 10:15:51 AM PDT by SmithL
After same-sex marriage becomes legal here on July 24, gay priests with partners in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island will head to the altar. They have to. Their bishop set a nine-month deadline for them to marry or stop living together.
Next door, meanwhile, the Episcopal bishop of New York says he also expects gay clergy in committed relationships to wed "in due course." Still, this longtime supporter of gay rights says churches in his diocese are off limits for gay weddings until he receives clearer liturgical guidance from the national denomination.
As more states legalize same-sex marriage, religious groups with ambiguous policies on homosexuality are divided over whether they should allow the ceremonies in local congregations. The decision is especially complex in the mainline Protestant denominations that have yet to fully resolve their disagreements over the Bible and homosexuality. Many have taken steps toward acceptance of gay ordination and same-gender couples without changing the official definition of marriage in church constitutions and canons. With the exception of the United Church of Christ, which approved gay marriage six years ago, none of the larger mainline churches has a national liturgy for same-sex weddings or even blessing ceremonies.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
LOL.
Must be the Evangelical Megachurch answer to this:
A Tribute to Anglo-Catholics
(tune: Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
Our church is mighty spikey
with smells and bells and chants,
And Palestrina masses
that vex the Protestants.
O happy ones and holy
who fall upon their knees
For solemn Benediction
and mid-week Rosaries.
Though with a scornful wonder
men see our clergy, dressed
In rich brocaded vestments
as slowly they process;
Yet saints their watch are keeping
lest souls be set alight
Not by the Holy Spirit,
but incense taking flight.
Now we on earth have union
with Lambeth, not with Rome,
Although the wags and cynics
may question our true home;
But folk masses and bingo
can’t possibly depose
The works of Byrd and Tallis,
or Cranmer’s stately prose.
(Here shall the organist modulate)
So let the organ thunder,
sound fanfares “en chamade”;
Rejoice, for we are treading
where many saints have trod;
Let peals ring from the spire,
sing descants to high C,
Just don’t let your elation
disrupt the liturgy.
That is what we plan to do, try different churches and see where we fit in.
Our religions differ so much we are having trouble finding a middle ground. I’ve been Assembly of God since I was 14. He has been in the most formal churches all his life. We both are conservatives.
He is a retired Navy Senior Chief, loves to sing in the choir (Bass), I can’t carry a tune in a tin bucket, but love singing the old hymns. For me they have a message and a meaning that these praise choruses don’t come close to having.
We thought we would start out at Bethel Assembly next to Bartlett UMC, which he said is to big for him as he has never been in a Assembly of God church.
We have become use to churches with 65-75 OLD people, with a few grand kids coming with them.
We were going to Schoolfield UMC until it closed (a church built for 400, down to 65 old people), and the congregations scattered to other UMC churches.
God bless
That is what we plan to do, and I’ll know the minute I walk in...the Holy Spirit lets me know in a hurry.
Same goes for Quint and me. Never looked back. We feel the presence of God in our new church.
— Jane
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