At the first press conference today, outgoing Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, House of Deputies president Gay Jennings, and the Very Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, a gay man and executive officer of General Convention, outlined their guiding principles for the next 12 days in Salt Lake City.

Canon Pemberton, 58, formerly a hospital chaplain, was the first member of the clergy to enter into a same-sex marriage, when he wed his partner Laurence Cunnington last April. Pemberton's marriage defied a decision by the House of Bishops, which has banned gay clergy from marrying, and he later had his permission to officiate revoked. This meant he was also unable to take up another job at the NHS, as he was declined the correct licences.

The solution...review your core church documents and update them now to reflect your Biblical beliefs on marriage.

In partnership with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the family Research Council is providing expert advice on developing a statement on marriage as well as adjusting your church's Constitution and Bylaws, language for Property Use documents, Employment policies and procedures, etc.

On June 13, 2015, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde ordained four people in the Washington National Cathedral. In the tense service, Budde issued a series of warnings to both the ordinands and the congregation of about 150 people who sat in the empty looking Cathedral. She stated that the future deacon and three priests had no promise of lifetime employment and that these four had seen the worst that church life offers. In fact, she said, they had been knocked-around by the church.