Fla. Bishop to Authorize Blessing of Same-Sex Unions

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Sep. 17 2009

The authorization will only apply to gay and lesbian couples who have been legally married, he says.

Frade made his announcement Wednesday on his blog months after The Episcopal Church passed a resolution permitting bishops to "provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church" and calling for the development of liturgical resources for the blessing of same-sex couples.

"For a long time in the life of the Episcopal Church we have been dealing with the realities of human sexuality," he wrote. "We have wrestled with who's in and who's out, who can be ordained and who can't, which relationships are to be blessed and which are not."

During the denomination's triennial convention in July, Episcopal leaders "opened the door a little bit," as Frade put it, to allow clergy to respond pastorally to legally married same-sex couples. They also opened the ordination process to all baptized members, including gays and lesbians in "lifelong committed relationships." the rest