Source: Albany Times Union, Virtue Online
SPECULATOR, NY -- The conservative-led Episcopal Diocese of Albany staked out its defense of what it calls "tradition marriage" on Saturday -- a move that comes as gay unions have gained new ground in California and New York.

The hundreds of clergy and lay delegates who converged for their annual convention in this lakeside Adirondack community resoundingly approved a resolution that lays down this rule: Only heterosexual marriages can be celebrated in the diocese.

Emotions ran high as delegates debated the issue, according to the conservative Anglican news site Virtue Online. But the debate was civil, according to Virtue, and an anticipated floor fight on the resolutions was avoided.

One conservative priest who voted for the resolution said, "We live in a time and place where there is great confusion in society and where appropriate boundaries are being discarded.... This is a clear statement of the sanctity of marriage, of chastity and singleness."

The debate at Saturday's convention highlighted the sometimes awkward position of the Albany Diocese, which is led by the Rt. Rev. William Love who calls himself an "Evangelical Catholic" bishop. He opposes the tolerant policies in the Episcopal Church.

While several parishes and even a diocese in California have taken steps to break ties with the national church in the US, the Albany diocese remains in the Episcopal Church even though several powerful voices in the diocese, including Bishop Love, argue that the national church has gone astray when it comes to the authority of scripture.

Clergy and lay deputies on Saturday also approved a resolution mandating that only a person who is in a heterosexual marriage or celibate and abstinent can be eligible for ordination as a priest or consecration as a bishop.

Speakers who lined up at two microphones in a rustic auditorium at Camp-of-the-Woods debated the issue in often personal terms, Albany Times Union reports.

Rev. Brad Jones, who supported the resolution, spoke of his personal journey from a young man consumed with homosexual desire to a married father of seven with a passion for God.

"If the Episcopal Church had proclaimed to me then that God would bless my lustful passions and desires, I would likely not be standing here alive today," said Jones, rector of Christ Church in Schenectady. "I would certainly be dead in my sins."

But critics blasted the resolutions as unnecessary, discriminatory and divisive. One spoke of a gay relative's love for her partner. A rector from Saranac Lake described the "cry of anguish" of a gay parishioner who learned of the proposal.

Delegate Kathy Clark, who spoke against the resolution, said we must respect the dignity of every human being.

"The resolution is a wolf in sheep's clothing," Clark said, according to Virtue Online. "Our Anglican faith rests on a three- legged stool - Scripture, reason, and tradition. Scripture can become an idol. We should not take a legalistic approach. We don't for divorce. I believe that a stable life-long non abusive (same-sex) relationship should be accepted."

The resolution sets down in local church canons a diocesan policy that already existed in practice. Supporters said it was necessary because the new policies will tie the hands of the general assembly which could have changed policies in the future if diocesan leadership were to change.

Full article: Diocese rules on gay unions | Albany Times Union
Diocese Overwhelmingly Passes Heterosexual Marriage Resolution | Virtue Online