Tuesday, February 25, 2014

C of E Bishop recommends gay blessings are held in the closet

Well, not quite, but almost.  The Bishop of Dorking wants to tell everyone that really, they aren't anti gay.  Because a small, hidden prayer MIGHT be held for a gay couple, as long as it isn't in church and not formal, and no one knows.
Inevitably, the media have highlighted what is seen as the negative outcome rather than the many positive things which the Guidance has to say. ...a pastoral response of prayers is encouraged, where appropriate, to gay couples who may enquire about the possibility of some form of service. This would not be any fomal rite or liturgy but, as paragraph 22 of the Appendix states, a ‘more informal kind of prayer, at the request of the couple, might be appropriate in the light of circumstances’. My own view is that this might be best done in the couple’s home.

Dear Bishop:

When in a hole, STOP DIGGING.

(from Thinking Anglicans)

7 comments:

Erp said...

It did leave me wondering whether Anglicans can have formal blessings of homes and presumably the couple living in it. I note the New Zealand form

http://anglicanprayerbook.org.nz/762.htm

If they are saying it should be in the home, make it a formal blessing of the home and those in the home. I'm not sure how well the conservatives would react to the blessing of bedroom(s) but there is no prohibition on that.

Another choice is for straight couples to opt for registry office instead of a church wedding. The CoE seems desperate for business given their frantic advertisement that you need not be CoE or even Christian to get married by the CoE. http://www.churchofengland.org/weddings-baptisms-funerals/weddings.aspx
Congratulations! You're welcome to marry in church whatever your beliefs, whether or not you are christened and whether or not you regularly go to church.

JCF said...

"The Bishop of Dorking": that's almost the best part (best-of-the-worst).

Do you ever get the feeling that the entire CofE exists inside an on-going Dickens novel? [If there's a more appropriate 19th century English novelist, sound off English majors/lit hounds.]

I commented at Thinking Anglicans, as did so many others, on the good bishop's preference for keeping it closeted (if not in an actual closet. Would be tough to hold in a wardrobe---unless it extends into Narnia! Aslan, at least, I believe would bless a same-sex marriage out in the open. ;-/)

IT said...

Trollope. I mean, we're still in Barchester. Or the minor 20th c.novelist Angela Thirkell.

We moved last year into a house with some....problems. Our dear friend A. who is a talented liturgist, performed a house blessing, and our many Episcopalian friends tramped cheerfully from room to room as A. vigorously flung water from the aspergillium. I still remember everyone crowding in the bedroom, while the water flew....

dr.primrose said...

Are we dealing with Mrs. Proudie or Mr. Slope? Or does it really matter?!

IT said...

heh, dr Primrose....

Erp said...

I'm not sure one would want to deal with the Archdeacon either.

JCF said...

I still remember everyone crowding in the bedroom, while the water flew....

"You see, I TOLD you how WILD is Teh Sex Life of Teh Gays!"

;-p~~~