Seventh parish to bless same-sex couples

St. Hilda’s, Sechelt, became the seventh parish in the diocese of New Westminster to allow the blessing of same-sex unions.

The parish voted 122 to 9 in favour of the blessings at a vestry (membership) meeting Nov. 14, according to the Web site of the Vancouver-based diocese.

The action came in the wake of the Windsor Report, published by the Lambeth Commission, which called for a moratorium on public rites of same-sex blessings, to arrest a schism within the Anglican Communion.

The remaining 71 parishes in the diocese have not requested permission to bless gay and lesbian unions.