Blessing Same-Sex Unions in the Church of England: The Liturgical Challenge of Same-Sex Couples’ Demand for Equal Marriage Rites

Abstract

Those Anglican Churches that have opened marriage to same-sex couples have done so from a liturgical starting point which makes space for the eschatological vocation of marriage. Such liturgies are arguably more congenial to same-sex couples’ demands for equal rites. The Church of England, on the other hand, has clung to services underpinned by a narrow view of marriage as a creation ordinance. It may be well-suited to the established Church’s legal duties but it means that the present demand for the inclusion of same-sex couples into Christian marriage represents a greater challenge. Equal rites, however, need not exclude the view of marriage as a creation ordinance. Interviews with four Church of England clergy who have been involved in same-sex ceremonies allow an exploration of the kind of marriage services that would meet same-sex couples’ demands and offer insights about what these demands say about the English marriage service today.

Gender: A Postmodern Idea Developed in Association with the Modern Concept of Sex in Considering the Implications for Evolving Sexuality

“…Left unmentioned in this account of the evolution of sex as a concept in modern thought and gender as an idea in postmodern thought is the role of religion in maintaining the dichotomy of male and female. The reason is that the role of teaching dependent on religious texts has been continuous in this regard [187], although policies have changed for some religions regarding inclusion of sexually diverse members in the congregation as well as recognizing and performing same-sex marriages [188,189]. It is because these religious views regarding the roles of men and women are based on texts that have not been modified over this period that religious views following these texts have not been a powerful catalyst in the evolution of sex as a modern concept or gender as a postmodern idea.…”