September 2015 – During the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, bishops and deputies authorized a gender-neutral marriage rite officially bringing same sex marriage to its 1.8 million members, though the denomination’s Book of Common Prayer still describes marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury and leader of 80 million Christians in the global Anglican Communion, said he was deeply concerned over the decision. He said it “will cause distress for some and have ramifications for the Anglican Communion as a whole, as well as for its ecumenical and interfaith relationships.”
Jeff Walton, Anglican program director for Institute on Religion and Democracy, said, “Officials with the Episcopal Church have enacted policies that the vast majority of Anglican Christians refute as contrary to both Scripture and the tradition that has been passed down to us.”
