Episcopal Church leaders set to consider blessing rite for same-sex couples

By DAVID O'REILLY
Wed, Jul. 04, 2012

Sixteen fractious years after it allowed the ordination of homosexuals, the Episcopal Church appears poised to adopt a blessing rite for same-sex couples wishing to wed.

If approved, as expected, at the church's General Convention starting Thursday in Indianapolis, the liturgy would be the first such rite endorsed by a major denomination in the United States.

Advocates of the blessing - already written, down to the "We have gathered here today" and "I do" and the exchange of rings - stress that it is not a sacrament and would not confer "marriage" on the couple.

Episcopal Church law defines marriage as the union of man and woman, and there are no plans to change that this year. the rest