[Episcopal News Service] The Very Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, dean and president of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, and the Rev. Canon Mally Ewing Lloyd, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusettscanon to the ordinary, were married Jan. 1 by diocesan Bishop M. Thomas Shaw.The marriage at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston took place just more than a year after Shaw gave diocesan clergy permission to solemnize marriages for all eligible couples. Massachusetts allows same-gender couples to marry.
"God always rejoices when two people who love each other make a lifelong commitment in marriage to go deeper into the heart of God through each other," Shaw is quoted in an EDS press release as saying during the service. "It's a profound pleasure for me to celebrate with God and my friends Katherine and Mally their marriage today."
This is the first marriage of a lesbian couple that Shaw has solemnized. About 400 people attended, according to another version of the EDS press release.
Though the Episcopal Church's canons state that marriage is between a man and a woman, the church at its General Convention in July 2009 passed Resolution C056 which, in part, allows that "bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church."
The resolution also authorized the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to work with the House of Bishops to collect and develop theological resources and liturgies for blessing same-gender relationships. The commission is to report to the 77th General Convention in 2012 in Indianapolis.
Ragsdale, 52, became EDS dean in October 2009 and is the first woman to hold that position. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and holds a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Episcopal Divinity School. She served as vicar of St. David's Episcopal Church in Pepperell, Massachusetts, and as president of Somerville, Massachusetts-based Political Research Associates before her EDS appointment.
Lloyd, 57, became Shaw's canon to the ordinary in December 2008. She is a General Convention deputy and a member of the church's Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance. Prior to joining the bishop's staff, she was for six years the rector of Christ Church Parish in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Lloyd was attended during the wedding ceremony by her adult children from her first marriage, Robert, Margaret, and Joseph Lloyd. Ragsdale was attended by her nephews and niece, Cameron and Nicholas Ragsdale and Lauren Mills.
"God always rejoices when two people who love each other make a lifelong commitment in marriage to go deeper into the heart of God through each other," Shaw is quoted in an EDS press release as saying during the service. "It's a profound pleasure for me to celebrate with God and my friends Katherine and Mally their marriage today."
This is the first marriage of a lesbian couple that Shaw has solemnized. About 400 people attended, according to another version of the EDS press release.
Though the Episcopal Church's canons state that marriage is between a man and a woman, the church at its General Convention in July 2009 passed Resolution C056 which, in part, allows that "bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church."
The resolution also authorized the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to work with the House of Bishops to collect and develop theological resources and liturgies for blessing same-gender relationships. The commission is to report to the 77th General Convention in 2012 in Indianapolis.
Lloyd, 57, became Shaw's canon to the ordinary in December 2008. She is a General Convention deputy and a member of the church's Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance. Prior to joining the bishop's staff, she was for six years the rector of Christ Church Parish in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Lloyd was attended during the wedding ceremony by her adult children from her first marriage, Robert, Margaret, and Joseph Lloyd. Ragsdale was attended by her nephews and niece, Cameron and Nicholas Ragsdale and Lauren Mills.
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