I have been asked what my opinion is on
marriages where the husband and wife don’t intend to conceive children, or
where one of the potential parents is infertile. I think the question of
whether a couple doesn’t want or can’t have children is irrelevant to the question of a rite for same sex unions and to what Holy Matrimony is about. The BCP’s main prayer
(admittedly omitted where the woman is past child-bearing age) reads, " O
MERCIFUL Lord, and heavenly Father by whose gracious blessing mankind is
increased: Bestow, we beseech thee, on these thy servants the heritage and gift
of children, and grant that they may also live together so long in godly love
and honesty, that they may see their children christianly and virtuously
brought up, to thy praise and honour; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." The whole sacramental rite of
Holy Matrimony is aimed at family – father, mother and children – mirroring the
Holy Family in heaven. Holy matrimony is so much more than a loving couple
living a life in service of God. The Epistle is Colossians 3.15 which talks of
husbands loving their wives and children obeying their parents and fathers not
provoking their children.
marriages where the husband and wife don’t intend to conceive children, or
where one of the potential parents is infertile. I think the question of
whether a couple doesn’t want or can’t have children is irrelevant to the question of a rite for same sex unions and to what Holy Matrimony is about. The BCP’s main prayer
(admittedly omitted where the woman is past child-bearing age) reads, " O
MERCIFUL Lord, and heavenly Father by whose gracious blessing mankind is
increased: Bestow, we beseech thee, on these thy servants the heritage and gift
of children, and grant that they may also live together so long in godly love
and honesty, that they may see their children christianly and virtuously
brought up, to thy praise and honour; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." The whole sacramental rite of
Holy Matrimony is aimed at family – father, mother and children – mirroring the
Holy Family in heaven. Holy matrimony is so much more than a loving couple
living a life in service of God. The Epistle is Colossians 3.15 which talks of
husbands loving their wives and children obeying their parents and fathers not
provoking their children.
Eric C. Bow 