Article X rule may block gay marriage for Episcopalians

Supermajority voting rules raised in House of Bishops debate
July 7, 2012
By George Conger

Questions over Prayer Book revision and parliamentary procedure were raised by members of the House of Bishops on the morning of the 3rd legislative day at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church meeting 5-12 July 2012 in Indianapolis.

On 7 July 2012 the Bishop of Arkansas raised the question of special voting procedures under Article X of the Constitution of the Episcopal Church in response to a resolution dealing with lectionary reform. However, his query as to what constitutes a majority in the House of Bishops under Article X of the Constitution has a direct bearing on the Resolution A049: “Authorize Liturgical Resources for Blessing Same-Gender Relationships”. The inability to muster a majority under the Article X voting rules, makes it likely that the trial rites for the blessing of same sex unions will fail to pass this General Convention.

At the close of the morning session, Resolution A059 came before the House. It seeks to cure an anomaly between the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) adopted by the 2009 General Convention and the readings for Holy Days given in the body of the Prayer Book. When Convention adopted the RCL it neglected to update the readings found in the Book of Common Prayer to conform to the new lectionary. the rest

Gender Identity and Expression Resolutions Pass HOB