Spokane Convention Holds Forum on Same-Sex Blessings

http://www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=3897

[The Living Church] 25 Oct 2007--Some 80 persons crowded into a hearing room for an open forum where delegates, youth and visitors to the convention of the Diocese of Spokane discussed the issues of homosexuality and what it means for the church in terms of membership and notions of marriage.

Delegates received, but otherwise took no action on the report which prompted the hearing. It recommended that the diocese should “seek a format that will recognize the reality of committed same-sex relationships.” Convention met Oct. 19-20 in Post Falls, Idaho.

Although acknowledging that some format to recognize same-sex blessings was desirable, the group did not reach a consensus on whether that format should be called marriage. Much of the conversation centered on what it meant to love others and what it meant to allow others to love, according to Ron Large, task force chair, who described the conversation as very thoughtful and helpful.