Priests in the Diocese of Washington may preside at civil same-sex marriages in the District of Columbia under new guidelines released by Bishop John Bryson Chane, now that the District’s Marriage Equality Act, which permits the civil marriage of same-sex couples, has become law.
No priest is required to preside at such ceremonies.

At the July 2009 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, bishops with jurisdiction where civil same-sex marriage is legal were granted the discretion to “provide generous pastoral responses to meet the needs of members of this church.” Chane joins bishops in Iowa, Vermont and Massachusetts in permitting clergy to preside at civil same-sex marriages. Diocesan clergy in Washington have long been permitted to offer liturgical blessings to same-sex couples.

The Episcopal Church does not permit its Order of Marriage to be used in the union of same-sex couples. However, a number of  rites for blessing same-sex relationships are in circulation and under development. At its 2009 General Convention, the church authorized its Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to collect and develop theological resources that might lead to the development of a rite for blessing same-sex civil marriages.

Chane’s guidelines do not specify what rites clergy may use when officiating at a civil marriage.   “I would prefer to work that out in consultation with the clergy who will be performing these services,” he said.

Under the Diocese of Washington’s new guidelines:
* Priests who wish to preside at a civil same-sex marriage in an Episcopal parish must have the support of the parish’s rector and vestry.

* Priests from outside the diocese are prohibited from presiding at same-sex civil marriage ceremonies within the diocese unless they are from a state and diocese that permits such marriages.
  
* Couples who reside in other dioceses may have a civil same-sex marriage performed in the diocese by a priest if such marriages are legal in their state, and their bishop permits clergy to participate in civil same-sex marriage ceremonies.

A copy of the guidelines has been distributed to all active clergy in the Diocese of Washington, and a copy also can be found on the diocesan Web site at http://www.edow.org/marriage/MarriageEqualityActGuidelines0310.pdf

“I hope that these pastoral guidelines will be helpful to the clergy that I serve as bishop,” Chane wrote. “In the matter of how to engage or not engage in performing, witnessing and blessing same-sex marriages within the District, I respect the pastoral judgment and decisions of the clergy under my pastoral oversight.”