Diocese of Edmonton endorses gay blessings: The Church of England Newspaper, October 21, 2012 p 7.

The Rt Rev Jane Alexander

The Diocese of Edmonton has endorsed gay blessings.  At a meeting of its diocesan synod on 13 October 2012 delegates to the Synod voted by strong majorities to accept resolution G-3 “Blessing Same-Gender Committed Unions”.  Introduced by the Dean of Edmonton the resolution asked  the “Synod request the Bishop to grant permission to any clergy who may wish to offer prayers of blessing for covenanted same-gender relationships.”

In her presidential address to the meeting, Bishop Jane Alexander urged members of the diocese to agree to disagree.  “Over the years the church has weathered some pretty divisive and combustible issues,” she noted, citing remarriage after divorce, slavery and the ordination of women.

The church had survived these fights, she asserted because Anglicans had been willing to engage in dialogue and remain united.  “Can we see each other as Christ sees us and resolve to be together, to talk together, to pray together?”

Edmonton becomes the seventh of Canada’s 30 dioceses to endorse gay blessings.

First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.