The U.S. Episcopal Church became the largest in the country to bless same-sex marriages last week, after the church voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move at its General Convention in Indianapolis. But what may have practical implications for many churches around the around the nation, might only have symbolic meaning for many Chicago-based Episcopal congregations.
Some local Episcopal churches have been blessing same-sex unions for years, and the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago already performs civil unions.
"It will have no impact on our parish," said Rev. Brian Hastings, rector at Church of Our Saviour in Lincoln Park and an openly gay man. "I mean we've been blessing gay and lesbian people for decades."
Hastings said his church has "absorbed" LGBT people comfortably and without controversy at least since the mid '90s, when a church rector at the time, close to retirement, came out as gay.
However, Episcopal support for Chicago's LGBT community goes even further back.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Evanston held its first same-sex commitment ceremony in the summer of 1988 and has many out LGBT parishioners to date.
"When we say God loves all people, we mean all people," said St. Luke's Rector Rev. Dr. Jeannette DeFriest, who is an out lesbian.
DeFriest and Hastings are among several out LGBT people within the church.
In addition to voting to bless same-sex unions last week, the church also voted to ordain transgender people, although clergy members say there are already transgender priests throughout the country.
While the significance of last week's vote on unions is largely symbolic for congregations like DeFriest's, it will have real benefits, she said. Among them will be an official liturgy or ritual for same-sex ceremonies.
In the past, LGBT-affirming Episcopal churches created such liturgies piecemeal, by adapting a liturgy for heterosexual couples or borrowing liturgies from other congregations.
"When I sit down with heterosexual couples, I can say, 'this is the liturgy from which we start,'" she said. "With same-sex couples… it was more challenging to find a liturgy… It was challenging to say 'No, there is no recognized rite in the Episcopal Church.'"
Not all local Episcopalian churches are completely LGBT-affirming. The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, which encompasses northern Illinois, contains 124 congregations. Of those, six are part of the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches, a group of churches committed to embracing LGBT people.
However, three years ago, the General Convention decided that churches could bless unions in accordance with their state laws. When Illinois civil unions became available to same-sex couples last year, the Diocese of Chicago was able to start offering civil union ceremonies.
Even before that, same-sex union blessings were largely regarded as "a local pastoral matter," according to Bishop Jeffrey D. Lee, who leads the Diocese of Chicago.
"In the Diocese of Chicago, it has been relatively non-controversial," said Lee.
Churches that fully embraced LGBT people did so without risk of repercussion, choosing individually what worked for each congregation. Now, Lee hopes the vote will make LGBT people aware that Episcopal churches in Chicago can be affirming places for them.
The Episcopal Church, said Lee, has a history of allowing for diversity going back to its Anglican roots.
In Hastings' congregation, that legacy manifests as a belief in that every person makes their own journey.
"Episcopalians have a longstanding tradition of trusting the conscience of the other person," Hastings said.
Still, Hastings is aware that not every Episcopal church in the country will embrace LGBT unions. The churches are still allowed to decide for themselves if they will bless same-sex unions. Also, Hastings is aware that in Illinois at least, he still can't marry same-sex couples.
"Many people might see this as a step along the way," he said. "But we're waiting for full equality."
