Diocese of Ottawa appoints committee to consider blessings

Two B.C. parishes vote to leave
Apr 1, 2009

The bishop of the diocese of Ottawa, John Chapman, has appointed a doctrine and worship committee to determine whether same-sex unions can be blessed on a limited basis in the diocese.

If the committee recommends that such blessings be allowed “in the spirit of experiential discernment,” Bishop Chapman said it would only be offered in one parish, St. John the Evangelist, an inner city parish that has long advocated for the rights of gays and lesbians.

“In the event that I instruct the parish of St. John the Evangelist to proceed, this is as far as I am prepared to move on the matter until General Synod 2010,” he said in his March column in the diocesan newspaper, Crosstalk. Bishop Chapman said that he has asked the committee to “create a liturgy, appropriate protocols and procedures, and an evaluative process.” The process “will determine whether or not the blessing of same-gender couples civilly married will become a practice among supportive parishes within the diocese of Ottawa, as requested by the 2007 synod of the diocese of Ottawa.” the rest