Ottawa diocese appoints committee to consider 'blessings'

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a c c w e b n e w s
The Anglican Church of Canada
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Mar 5, 2009 The bishop of the diocese of Ottawa, John Chapman, has appointed
a doctrine and worship committee to determine whether same-sex unions can be
blessed on a limited basis in the diocese.

If the committee recommends that such blessings be allowed "in the spirit of
experiential discernment," Bishop Chapman said it would only be offered in
one parish, St. John the Evangelist, an inner city parish which has long
advocated for the rights of gays and lesbians.

"In the event that I instruct the parish of St. John the Evangelist to
proceed, this is as far as I am prepared to move on the matter until General
Synod 2010," he said in his March column at the diocesan newspaper,
Crosstalk. The 2007 General Synod asked for a review of the marriage canon,
which currently limits the sacrament to female-male couples, before the 2010
meeting in Halifax.

Bishop Chapman said that he has asked the committee to "create a liturgy,
appropriate protocols and procedures, and an evaluative process." The
process "will determine whether or not the blessing of same-gender couples
civilly married will become a practice among supportive parishes within the
diocese of Ottawa, as requested by the 2007 synod of the diocese of Ottawa."
In a resolution passed by a vote of 177-97, that synod had requested the
bishop to allow clergy to "bless duly solemnized and registered civil
marriages between same-sex couples where at least one party is baptized."

To read the rest of the story, please visit the Anglican Journal Web site,
www.anglicanjournal.com