This comes as little surprise, as the church has been lurching forward toward marriage equality at around the same pace as the US as a whole. We okayed the "blessing" of "same-sex unions" at the last triennial convention, in 2012, which was about as close as we could get to marriage equality without actually using the "M" word, and the election of Gene Robinson as bishop back in 2003 kicked off a lot of discussions within the Episcopal Church that cleared the way for this — especially in terms of having more conservative members and leadership depart the church over the matter.
My own parish went through some bruising divisions over the matter back then. I don't expect to see that replayed this time around.
As to the global ties — well, we're already on the outs with much of the Anglican Communion over Bp Robinson, and in having a (gasp) female Presiding Bishop (Katharine Jefferts-Schori, whose term ends with this convention). The Archbishop of Canterbury seems unhappy with us about the development, but it's hard to say whether that's because he's under his own internal pressure in the Church of England over issues regarding gays and women.
So, yes, it may be we don't get invited to some of the Anglican Communion parties, and that's sad, but I'd rather see us doing what's right, and that's what I think has happened in this week's meeting.
Episcopal Church approves same-sex marriages. Will it hurt global ties? (+video)
Episcopalians have voted to allow weddings for same-sex couples – a move that might strain the church’s relationship with the larger global organization.
