ACoC Gets a New Liturgy!

Thanks to St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, Toronto, ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada) has a new liturgy, a special worship ritual to bless and acknowledge a person who's transitioned to another sex. 

The sex-change ceremony was conducted by Revs. Maggie Helwig and Andrea Budgey for Beck Shaefer, who started out in life as a woman but became a man. However, because ACoC didn't have a trans blessing liturgy, the parish invented one.

Helwig And Shaefer at The Baptismal Font

“We understood that this wasn’t a re-baptism,” said Helwig, “God always knew who Beck was in his fullness, and received him as himself from the beginning. But we also knew that this was a moment closely tied to the baptismal covenant, and Beck’s growth as a disciple.”

At the service, Beck declared that transgenderism was part of God's creation and that this was something to be lived "openly and authentically."

Helwig, Budgey And Friends

“God created me transgender, and calls me to live openly and authentically,” said Beck at the ceremony, “This is not a solitary path but rather a call that I am to live out in relation to others and as a member of the body of Christ.”

A Beautiful Rainbow Unicorn

Scientists have so far failed to find the elusive transgender chromosome, causing some to doubt the authenticity of sex-change procedures. "They're just blasphemous parodies of men or women," said one expert, on the condition of anonymity, "No one's fooled, especially God."

Good luck, ACoC.

LSP