<p>With the removal of sexual orientation as a bar to ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), pending approval of a majority of presbyteries, and the Episcopal Church’s 2009 General Convention calling for the development of theological and liturgical resources for same-sex blessings, sexual orientation—especially with regard to marriage—is a central issue. Secularly, too, the topic is front-page news with the recent California same-gender marriage ruling and subsequent Proposition 8 vote and the update of the Massachusetts same-gender marriage law.</p><p>This book sets forth the case for religious institutions’ blessing of same-gender marriage, positing that same-gender marriage does not detract from the sacredness of heterosexual marriage, but rather enhances and nourishes the institution.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">Chapters include:</span></b> </p><ul> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">“Claiming the Blessing” </span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">“Deeper Than</span> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">Scripture” </span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">“Traditional Family Values” </span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">“The</span> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">Sacred Source of Marriage” </span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">“Sex and the Body</span> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">of Christ” </span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">“Marriage As a Spiritual Discipline”</span> </li></ul>