"This pushes the envelope, and I suspect it will embolden congregations who are sympathetic but have not dared to perform blessings".
Pettit, who is Jewish, always wanted to have a religious ceremony, and is thrilled that a female rabbi from the South London Liberal Synagogue will perform blessings at the reception.
Instead, the church's leadership council is asking pastors to perform blessings.
Their intersex status is widely attributed to spiritual possession, a perception that allows hijra to perform blessings in exchange for money or goods.
Steven Baines, an elder with the Disciples of Christ who has performed gay blessings, said, "Most people think gay people are these God-hating people, but there are lots of us that feel very connected to our faith traditions".
He also performs land blessings for groundbreakings, and consecrations when a building is completed, recommending the most auspicious dates to hold these ceremonies, based on the astrological calendar that guides feng shui.
Although the foundation's teaching materials and lectures focus on secular virtues, the vocabulary and practices of the Unification Church creep into the curriculum -- with occasional references to the "true parents" (Mr. Moon and his wife) and ceremonies in which foundation teachers perform mass blessings of marriages.
Do not even think that you can receive salvation by confessing minute by minute, nor by performing -- or earning blessings -- but confess your weaknesses and trust only God's grace for salvation.
Some bishops had already been permitting their priests to perform same-sex blessings in recent years, without the larger church's formal approval, using homemade liturgies and rituals.
The Rev. Canon Susan Russell, who has performed same-sex blessings at a Pasadena church for decades, and the Rev. Canon Thaddeus A. Bennett, a priest in Vermont, where same-sex marriage is legal, will write the essay on pastoral care.
