c. 1997 Religion News Service

PHILADELPHIA _ The nation’s Episcopal bishops Wednesday (July 23) kept alive the issue of the church blessing same-sex unions.

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops approved a directive for the church’s liturgical experts to continue a theological study of such blessings and to come up with recommendations for the church’s next General Convention in the year 2000.

However, the directive must be approved by the church’s lower House of Deputies before work can begin. Saturday (July 19), the deputies _ priests and lay representatives _ rejected by one vote a plan to develop a new rite for the blessings.

During Wednesday’s debate at the church’s triennial General Convention here, many conservative bishops opposed to the blessings voted for the study. They see it as a chance to inject their theological views into the debate and force blessing supporters to back up their arguments with solid theology.

Driving the action is the reality that same-sex unions are already being unofficially blessed by some Episcopal priests in church settings using a variety of rites, usually composed by the couples themselves.

Bishop John-David Scofield of the Diocese of San Joaquin, Calif., asked whether there would be a moratorium on such ad hoc blessings during the three-year study. Bishop Joe Doss of the Diocese of New Jersey said that would not be the case.

Also Wednesday, the convention’s Social and Urban Ministries Committee killed a resolution calling for a moratorium on the ad hoc rites, and all discussions of same-sex issues.

The Rev. Michael W. Hopkins, a spokesman for Integrity, the church’s gay and lesbian caucus, said gay and lesbian Episcopalians want the rite to obtain official church blessing for their committed relationships.

He said some couples have not participated in the ad hoc ceremonies because they are awaiting a church rite.”Some gay and lesbian church members want the denomination to offer them an out-right marriage rite, rather than the blessings being sought for inclusion in the church’s alternative Book of Occasional services,”Hopkins said.”There is no consensus in the gay community on whether they want marriage or blessing rites. But there is consensus about our ability to celebrate the unions,”Hopkins said.

Supporters of same-sex marriage rites said there should be less resistance in the House of Deputies to a theological study. However, passage in the lower house is uncertain.

In other convention action, the deputies Tuesday killed a change in church law that would have limited the voting privileges of retired bishops. The bishops approved the step last weekend, arguing that bishops who vote in the upper house should represent jurisdictions.

However, the House of Deputies _ which ironically had requested the change for decades _ argued that by limiting the voting of retired bishops the church would be engaging in age discrimination.

Wednesday, deputy Byron Rushing, a Massachusetts state representative from Boston, said attempts were under way to get the House of Deputies to reconsider its decision. He said active bishops were directly lobbying deputies from their dioceses to approve the change in voting rights.

Retired bishops tend to vote with the church’s conservative wing. If reconsidered and passed, the change in bishops’ voting eligibility would shift power in the upper house to the church’s liberal wing.

MJP END BRIGGS