Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

 

The decision of the Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in the Obergefell case makes legal the marriage of same-sex couples in the State of Ohio and across the country. As we move into this new reality, I offer the following guidelines to clergy and congregational leadership:

 

1) Priests of the Diocese of Ohio are permitted to officiate at same-sex weddings having provided a couple with premarital counseling and in accordance with Canons I.18 and I.19 of the Constitutions and Canons of The Episcopal Church.

 

2) Liturgies authorized by the Book of Common Prayer and the General Convention of The Episcopal Church may be used in such services, with appropriate adaptation for gender specificity. 

 

3) No priest is required to officiate at such services, nor is a congregation obligated to provide them. I encourage all clergy and vestries to work together in discerning how their congregation will move forward with this new possibility and in providing pastoral care to all.

 

I am profoundly grateful for the Supreme Court's decision, in its implications for all LGBT children of God, its direct response to my own beloved friends, colleagues, and family members, and through a personal connection I have to the Obergefell case. At the same time, I recognize that some in our church are equally disappointed by it. I hold those whose lives and love are affirmed by this action and those whose hearts are grieved by it in my prayers, and I am confident that you will do the same.