DEFINITIONS - Marriage, Unions and Blessings
Canon 21 states: “The Anglican Church of Canada
affirms, according to our Lord’s teaching as found in Holy Scripture and
expressed in the Form or Solemnization of Matrimony in the Book of Common
Prayer, that marriage is a lifelong union in faithful love, for better or for
worse, to the exclusion of all others on either side … The purposes of marriage
are mutual fellowship, support, and comfort, the procreation (if it may be) and
nurture of children, and the creation of a relationship in which sexuality may
serve personal fulfillment in a community of faithful love.”
The Anglican marriage rite appeared in the 1549 BCP
and remained essentially unchanged until the 1960s. Modifications since then
may be seen to reflect a modified theology. However, the fundamental reality
has been constant: historically, biblically and theologically, marriage has
been understood to be the union of woman and a man. 1
Definitions 2
Blessing: 1. Calling down
God’s gracious power of favour; Giving thanks and praise to God.
The relationship
of two persons is acknowledged as being blessed and accepted by God. This is
different than either a civil or religious marriage because it has no civil
equal and no legal status.
Civil Marriage: The legal
recognition of a contractual union of two people, performed by a civil servant.
Two people are
married under the law only this is generally done for various legal reasons
(such as taxes and health benefits) and because people are in love. It is
completely separate from a religious marriage and has no bearing on religious
institutions.
Christian Marriage: The Church’s
invocation of God’s blessing upon a civil marriage according to canon law. (See
Canon 21, General Synod of The Anglican Church of Canada for a more specific
definition.)
When people are
married by a priest, the priest performs both the civil and sacramental
functions of a marriage; however this is done only for relationships that meet
the canonical requirements of marriage.
Covenanted Relationship: A union in which
two persons declare and pledge their commitment to one another.
Similar to a
marriage, two people who are in love are blessed by the church and pledge vows
that they will be faithful to each other to the exclusion of all others, it may
or may not include the components of a blessing ceremony as well. However, this
does not require a civil relationship to meet the legal requirements of a civil
or Christian marriage.
Sacrament: A liturgical
means of God’s grace, as traditionally defined by the Church.
A physical or
ceremonial act is seen as a direct representation of God’s grace on earth.
Union: The joining of
two people in a loving, committed, usually sexual relationship that might or
might not meet the statutory or canonical requirements for marriage.
The secular
definition of a Covenanted Relationship.
The Book of Common Prayer (Article XXV) says of Marriage
as a Sacrament: “Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens
of Christian men’s profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and
effectual signs of grace, and God’s good will towards us, by which he doth work
invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our
Faith in him.”
“There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in
the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.”
“Those five commonly
called Sacraments, that is to say, … Marriage, … are not to be counted for
Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt
following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures;
but yet have not like nature of the Sacraments with Baptism, and the Lord’s
Supper, for that they have not any visible sign of ceremony ordained of God.”