Letter from the Diocese on Dallas DEPO plan

The Rt. Rev. George R. Sumner, Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, announced that the Rt. Rev. Wayne Smith, Bishop of Missouri, will be the visiting and assisting bishop for the three parishes in the Dallas diocese which have requested access to the trial-use rites for gender-neutral marriage according to General Convention Resolution B012, “Marriage Rites for the Whole Church.”

General Convention passed Resolution B012 on July 13, 2018 to give all Episcopalians the ability to be married by their priests in their home churches.

One part of Resolution B012 resolves that if a bishop “holds a theological position that does not embrace marriage for same-sex couples,” that bishop “shall invite, as necessary, another bishop of this Church to provide pastoral support to the couple, the Member of the Clergy involved and the congregation or worshipping community in order to fulfill the intention of this resolution that all couples have convenient and reasonable local congregational access to these rites.”

Bishop Sumner wrote, “I am confident that we will be working collegially for the sake of the thriving of all the parishes in the Diocese of Dallas. I have provided Ascension, Transfiguration, and St. Thomas with a protocol for Bishop Smith’s work with them. Both he and I share the hope that the three parishes will continue to invite me annually to come to preach, teach, and share in worship.”