A091 Definition of doctrine
Canon IV.4.1.h.2 specifies that all members of the clergy shall refrain from “holding and teaching publicly or privately, and advisedly, any Doctrine contrary to that held by the Church.” Therefore, any addition to or amendment of “the sacramental rites, the Ordinal and Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer” has potential disciplinary implications for members of the clergy whose beliefs would no longer be reflected in the Book of Common Prayer as defined in Article X of the Constitution of the Episcopal Church. This addition would ensure that neither the emendation of the Book of Common Prayer to include a marriage service for use by opposite-sex or same-sex couples nor the alteration of the understanding of marriage presented in the Catechism to remove reference to gender would place members of the clergy who believe that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman in violation of Title IV or their ordination vows.
Explanation
Canon IV.4.1.h.2 specifies that all members of the clergy shall refrain from “holding and teaching publicly or privately, and advisedly, any Doctrine contrary to that held by the Church.” Therefore, any addition to or amendment of “the sacramental rites, the Ordinal and Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer” has potential disciplinary implications for members of the clergy whose beliefs would no longer be reflected in the Book of Common Prayer as defined in Article X of the Constitution of the Episcopal Church. This addition would ensure that neither the emendation of the Book of Common Prayer to include a marriage service for use by opposite-sex or same-sex couples nor the alteration of the understanding of marriage presented in the Catechism to remove reference to gender would place members of the clergy who believe that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman in violation of Title IV or their ordination vows.