The Washington National Cathedral announced yesterday that effective immediately, it will begin to host same-sex marriageson its premises.
The Associated Press is reporting that Cathedral officials announced a new rite of marriage for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) members. The decision, made by Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, comes in the wake of passage of same-sex marriage laws in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
Episcopal priests in the diocese will be given the option of whether or not to perform same-sex marriages under what the General Convention calls the “local option.”
The Very Rev. Gary Hall, who was installed as the cathedral’s dean in October, 2012, sees the move as a way to build a more inclusive community “that reflects the diversity of God’s world.”
“I read the Bible as seriously as fundamentalists do,” Hall told the AP. “And my reading of the Bible leads me to want to do this because I think it’s being faithful to the kind of community that Jesus would have us be.”
He’s also hoping that the move, coming from the national cathedral, will help to influence the nation toward welcoming same-sex marriage.
“As a kind of tall-steeple, public church in the nation’s capital, by saying we’re going to bless same-sex marriages, conduct same-sex marriages, we are really trying to take the next step for marriage equality in the nation and in the culture,” Hall said.
Although Hall personally sees the move as a step forward, it is sure to further divide a church that has lost more than 16 percent of its membership since 2000 over this issue. Trying to “adapt” Christianity to modern ideas about morality isn’t working for the Episcopal Church or any other Protestant denomination that tries to do this.
As columnist Ross Douthat wrote in a July, 2012 editorial in The New York Times entitled, “Can Liberal Christianity be Saved?”: “Practically every denomination — Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian — that has tried to adapt itself to contemporary liberal values has seen an Episcopal-style plunge in church attendance.”
Regardless of the opposition, same-sex marriages will go forward at the cathedral. Officials say it could be six months or more before a ceremony actually takes place due to the cathedral’s busy schedule and its pre-marital counseling requirements. Only couples affiliated with the cathedral will be eligible.
Thus far, there have been no requests for a wedding.
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