Resolved, that this the 86th convention of the Diocese of Western North Carolina desiring to support our sisters and brothers in Christ who are in same-gender relationships of mutuality and fidelity, and desiring to provide clergy with appropriate pastoral tools for ministering to these couples, calls upon General Convention of the Episcopal Church to develop and authorize same-sex union blessing rites.
Evaluation of resolution:
Blessings are the province of the Church as a communal recognition of God’s love for all God’s children. This proposal is to bring to reality the blessings of the Church to couples in same-sex relationships.
The Episcopal Church has passed resolutions recognizing LGBT members as full members of the Church. It is time to move from resolutions to rites.
As of this writing eleven dioceses have already approved official written policies for such blessings. (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Long Island, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Washington)
Within this diocese many gay Episcopalians are living in relationships of mutuality and fidelity. We experience these, our brothers and sisters, as living lives of Christian discipleship and servanthood. They support the Diocese financially, and with their time and talents. Some of those living in these committed relationships are ordained. We believe that that these loving committed relationships are deserving of sacramental equality.
We call upon the Episcopal Church to grant them every blessing the Church confers upon its other members. And we call upon the Diocese of Western North Carolina to continue its history of being an advocate for those who do not experience full and equal rights/rites in the Church.
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