Diocese of Calgary urged to begin same-sex blessings

Numerous dioceses, Toronto and Niagara for example, are already marrying same-sex couples. The diocese of Calgary hasn’t even started to bless same-sex couples, let alone marry them.

Calgary, to its shame, has fallen well behind other more progressive dioceses in their march along the highway to extinction. To correct this deficit, a collection of individuals with the catchy title of “Moving Forward-Embracing Diversity” is urging the diocese to join in the march of the ecclesiastical lemmings post-haste.

From here:

Elizabeth McLennan, spokesperson for Moving Forward-Embracing Diversity, spokesperson for Moving Forward-Embracing Diversity

An informal group in the diocese of Calgary is calling on the bishop to make a decision on whether to allow same-sex blessings in the diocese.

Moving Forward-Embracing Diversity, a lay group formed last January to push for same-sex blessings in the diocese, released a statement last week calling on Archbishop Gregory Kerr-Wilson, bishop of Calgary and metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Rupert’s Land, to announce his response to a motion  passed at the diocesan synod October 14 requesting him to allow clergy to bless the unions of same-sex couples. At the time, Kerr-Wilson said he expected to announce his decision by mid-November. But no decision has yet been announced.

“Votes that pass in synod are expected to be acted upon and implemented,” Elizabeth McLennan, spokesperson for the group and mover of the motion, told the Anglican Journal Friday, December 8. “I think the diocese has really clearly shown the archbishop the direction it wants to take, and honestly, now it’s totally up to Greg to decide whether or not he’s going to listen to his synod.”