Anglican Communion News Service

by Matthew Davies

The Episcopal Church, USA (ECUSA), today decided that it is not ready to authorise creating liturgies to bless same-sex unions but recognised that local blessings already take place. As the 74th General Convention of ECUSA draws to a close the deputies concurred with the House of Bishop's amendments to the resolution yesterday which deleted the lines from resolution C051 that asked the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music to develop rites for blessing same-sex relationships.

Part of the resolution called on the church to continue "prayer, study, and discernment on the pastoral care of gay and lesbian persons, to include the compilation and development by a special commission organized and appointed by the Presiding Bishop of resources to facilitate as wide a conversation of discernment as possible throughout the church."

The Rt Revd Catherine Roskam, suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of New York, said that the cognate Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music "tried to find a middle ground between not doing anything official through the church and also providing for those people in the church who we all acknowledge do bless same-sex unions."

The move was taken as an encouraging sign by bishops affiliated with the American Anglican Council. "I think it is something we can go home with," said the Rt Revd William Skilton, suffragan Bishop of South Carolina. "It is certainly better than what was originally proposed."

Many have been concerned with the amount of time that issues of human sexuality have taken up throughout the ten-day convention. Bishop Mano Rumalshah, General Secretary of the United Society for Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) said that "sexuality issues should not eclipse interfaith concerns in a warring world". Bishop Mano was among one of the 50 visitors to the General Convention. "One feels sad that this convention again has got distracted with just one issue," he said.