Some Café bloggers took to the pulpit yesterday. We are interested in what you said or what you heard, and whether any of it is continuing to evolve as you sit with it.
One session was set aside from the regular work of the IALC in response to a formal request from the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of The Episcopal Church (USA) – TEC – so that representatives from that Standing Commission could hear from IALC members in response to that Province’s exploratory theological rationale and liturgical principles for the development of rites for the blessing of committed same gender relationships.
I don’t know if I would have said it when I was teaching my dad to hug me, but certainly now I see the whole liturgy as a practice in reconciling intimacy, a practice significantly enacted by touch. How many ways do we touch one another in the liturgy?
The Rt. Rev. Chester Talton, Bishop of San Joaquin, has authorized, “blessings of same gender civil marriages, domestic partnerships, and relationships which are lifelong committed relationships characterized by `fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God.’ ”
Anglican parishes in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island now have permission to bless same-sex marriages, but they still can’t perform the ceremony for gays and lesbians.
The resources that the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music have gathered in fulfillment of Resolution C056, are now available online. It includes Diocesan resources, resources for liturgy and worship, and others.
Be the liturgical church you already are, and start thinking of liturgy as unapologetic mission.
… in the final 10 minutes before a service starts, try to resist peppering your priest with questions or reports about some failure of performance – people or facilities (or both).