New, authorised, trial-use marriage rites, which make no distinction between same-sex or opposite-sex couples, are now available in The Episcopal Church.
Liturgical Resources 1: I Will Bless You and You Will Be a Blessing Revised and Expanded 2015 is now available (image above). The following PDF files are available freely:
The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage
The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2
The former is developed from the 2012 liturgy that can be used for marriage for any couple and heeds the concern that “separate but equal” rites are inherently unequal. The latter is a gender-neutral adaptation of the marriage rite in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.
The General Convention 2015 authorized these rites for trial use; that is, as a proposed revision of the Prayer Book. General Convention Resolution 2015-A054 directs that these liturgies be used under the direction and with the permission of the diocesan bishop, and stipulates that bishops exercising ecclesiastical authority or, where appropriate, ecclesiastical supervision, will make provision for all couples asking to be married in The Episcopal Church to have access to these liturgies.
If you appreciated this post, consider liking the liturgy facebook page, using the RSS feed, and/or signing up for a not-very-often email, …
