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Episcopalian Church Expected To Stand By LGBT-Friendly Decisions

Waiting For The Word
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/waitingfortheword/5602666666

The election of an openly-gay bishop and the carrying out of same-sex marriages have led to the sanctioning of the Episcopalian Church by the Anglican Communion.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is expected to reaffirm the Church’s commitment to a progressive approach to the LGBT community today.

The Anglican Communion, is a voluntary organization of protestant bishoprics and parishes that has 86 million members worldwide.

The combined religious organizations, or provinces, form the third largest Christian congregation after the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Last year’s decision by the Episcopalian Church, a member of the Anglican Communion, to make available a formal rite for the marriage of same-sex couples was the last straw for some members of the Anglican Communion.

At a meeting of the heads of churches in late January, more conservative heads of the Anglican Communion asked the Episcopal Church to remove themselves as a voting member for three years.

Bishop Catherine Waynick of the Indianapolis Diocese, which includes two-thirds of Indiana, says the Episcopalian Church is first to create a same-sex marriage liturgy.

“We probably have at this point maybe eight parishes where those kind of requests have been made, and we have other parishes where those types of requests won’t be made anytime soon,” Waynick says.

Waynick says the Episcopalian Church’s decision to approve a same sex marriage liturgy follows her understanding of Christianity.

“If those things are essential for me, then loving my neighbor means that I must claim them as essential for everyone,” Waynick says.

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