Clergy in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts may now celebrate same-sex marriage ceremonies without restriction, including the practice of signing marriage certificates.
 
The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, announced the new policy, effective on the first Sunday of Advent, in a letter dated Nov. 29. Bishop Shaw cited the language of General Convention Resolution C056, which says that bishops, “particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response” to church members.
 
Bishop Shaw included his two suffragan bishops, the Rt. Revs. Roy F. “Bud” Cederholm and Gayle E. Harris, in the letter’s language.
 
“Your bishops understand this to mean for us here in the Diocese of Massachusetts that the clergy of this diocese may, at their discretion, solemnize marriages for all eligible couples, beginning Advent I,” Bishop Shaw wrote. “Solemnization, in accordance with Massachusetts law, includes hearing the declaration of consent, pronouncing the marriage and signing the marriage certificate. This provision for generous pastoral response is an allowance and not a requirement; any member of the clergy may decline to solemnize any marriage.”
 
Bishop Shaw wrote that clergy may not use The Book of Common Prayer’s marriage services to celebrate weddings for same-sex couples. Instead, the three bishops “ask that our priests seek out liturgical resources being developed and collected around the church.” The bishops also recommended “Pastoral Resources for Province I Episcopal Clergy Ministering to Same-Gender Couples,” a 23-page document [PDF] distributed by the Episcopal Church’s Province of New England.
 
Following the announcement, Bishop Shaw told the Boston Globe, “It’s time for us to offer to gay and lesbian people the same sacrament of fidelity that we offer to the heterosexual world.’’
 
Three years ago, the diocese’s annual convention considered a resolution saying that marriage is the state’s work and that clergy should not function as agents of the state. Instead, clergy would pronounce the church’s blessings only on couples already married by state officials, such as justices of the peace. The convention tabled that resolution.
 
Delegates at this year’s convention approved a resolution asking their bishops to approve clergy’s participation in marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. That resolution also cited General Convention’s Resolution C056.
 
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