BOSTON, June 19 (UPI) -- Conservative church members are denouncing new guidelines from the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont for performing civil union ceremonies for same-sex couples.
The diocese unveiled the new guidelines for civil union ceremonies Friday, drawing swift denunciation from conservatives in the 70 million-member Anglican Communion, the Washington Post reported.
Episcopal priests in Vermont have performed civil union ceremonies since 2000, when the state became the first in the nation to allow civil unions, giving gay couples most of the legal protections of marriage. But conservatives in the church say they are upset the new guidelines allow a liturgy closely resembling that of a wedding.
"My understanding is that what Vermont has done comes awfully close to matrimony, and to put a same-sex blessing in that category is horrifying," Cynthia P. Brust, a spokeswoman for the American Anglican Council, told the Post. "We have had the fabric of Anglican Communion torn to pieces, and I do not understand bishops that have not shown more restraint."
Conservative Anglican groups are already angry over the consecration last fall of the Rev. V. Eugene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first openly gay bishop.
