Till Divorce Do Us Part

'To love, cherish and obey, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance." Despite the escapades of its founder. King Henry VIII, the Church of England has always taken those venerable words of the wedding service literally. The Anglican stand against divorce cost the Duke of Windsor his throne and Princess Margaret her first love. Peter Townsend. The same rule holds for the Episcopal Church in the U.S., and the late Bishop James A. Pike quit the church because it refused to sanction his third marriage.*

Last week a special Anglican commission unanimously recommended that the mother church start conducting weddings for divorced members. It said that there is nothing in theology or Scripture or reason to prevent a reversal of tradition if church members have reached a "moral consensus" in favor of change--a reference to the increasing number of divorces among Anglicans, as well as almost everyone else. The proposal, which would affect only Church of England members and not Episcopalians in the U.S. or Anglicans elsewhere, will be debated at a general synod this year. Though the English church can act on its own, it may wait for a decision from the world's Anglican bishops when they assemble again, seven years from now.

-Pike's first marriage was annulled and his second marriage ended in divorce. In certain cases, the Episcopal Church offers a private procedure in which excommunicated divorced persons can apply to a bishop to "bless" their marriage and then readmit them to the church after suitable time and scrutiny. But, technically at least, there is no remarriage in the church.

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