Can episcopal priests be gay
Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Episcopal Church
BACKGROUND
Among its statements of belief, the Episcopal Church includes, “In Jesus, we detect that the essence of God is love, and through baptism, we give in his victory over sin and death.” They further emphasize, “We try to love our neighbors as ourselves and respect the dignity of every person.”
With 2 million members, the U.S.-based Episcopal Church is just one branch of a worldwide Anglican Communion of 85 million. The church operates under the direction of two legislative bodies: the House of Deputies, with lay and clergy representatives from across the church, and the House of Bishops, which includes all bishops of the church. Together they make doctrinal, administrative and budgetary decisions at a General Convention that convenes every three years. An Executive Council of clergy and lay leaders manages the business of the church in the intervening period, and are elected at each General Convention, with a Presiding Bishop elected every nine years. Changes to the church constitution and to canon rule are enacted only through a majority vote in both houses. The Constitution and Canons of the Epi
Removed from ministry for being male lover, priest is restored at service lamenting church’s past LGBTQ+ exclusion
The Rev. Harry Stock pours wine into a chalice for communion during the Oct. 26 restoration to the ordained ministry service that returned him to the priesthood of The Episcopal Church after being removed in 1987. Photo: Andy Bird
[Diocese of West Virginia] Almost 40 years after he was removed from ministry in The Episcopal Church because of his sexual orientation, the Rev. Harry Stock has been restored to the priesthood.
The restoration to the ordained ministry service took place Oct. 26 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia, with West Virginia Bishop Matthew Cowden officiating. The service was an ecumenical gathering and included members and leaders from around The Episcopal Church, including the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in The Episcopal Church, and the Very Rev. Ian Markham, dean and president of Virginia Theological Seminary.
Both Robinson and Markham spoke during the service, with Robinson acknowledging the importance of The Episcopal Church making an apology for its treatment of LGBTQ+ people and Markham offeri
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Episcopal priests in Mississippi no longer need to pursue the bishop’s permission to perform weddings for gay couples.
The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, Rt. Rev. Brian Seage, announced what he called the “significant” change in a June 3 letter to churches.
Seage said clergy members still have “the discretion to marry, or not marry, any specific couple for any reason.”
He said he respects priests who are unable to perform same-sex weddings because of their own conscience or because they think it would cause irreparable harm to their congregation’s unity.
“My only request is that you refer, to me, any same sex couple seeking marriage, so arrangements can be made to offer these services of the church,” Seage wrote.
Delegates to the Episcopal General Convention voted overwhelmingly last year to modify church law to permit same-sex marriages throughout the denomination. Since then, Episcopal bishops in other some places had already said priests don’t need to seek their permission to wed same-sex couples.
Seage, who has been Episcopal bishop in Mississippi since February 2015, had already called for compassion for people who are lesbia
1962: October Homosexuality, along with alcoholism, is studied by the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It is referred to as a “standard weakness.” [1]
1963: August Rev. David B. Wayne of the Church of the Epiphany in Unused York City preaches that homosexuals “must be accepted fully into the fellowship of the church” while they also must seek counseling or psychological treatment. [2]
1964: November A proposed revision to a New York State law that would decriminalize “sexual deviation” (i.e., homosexuality and adultery) is praised by Episcopalians and denounced by Roman Catholics. The revision is later dropped by the NY state Legislature. [3]
1966: October Speaking at Duke Rule School, Episcopal Auxiliary Bishop of California, Rev. James A. Pike claims that laws “aimed at controlling homosexuality, sexual practices between bloke and wife and abortions…must be changed.” He claims that such matters are “nobody’s business but the individuals concerned.” [4]
1967: November During a symposium on homosexuality sponsored by the Episcopal Dioceses of New York, Connecticut, Long Island, and Newark, ninety Episcopalian priests consent that the chur