FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) – After years of discussion by parishioners and church leaders, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville has decided to support a rite of blessing for same-sex couples.

However, implementation of the rite will wait until at least next summer for national church leaders to meet on the issue before conducting any ceremonies. The decision came Sept. 19 to approve a resolution adopting a rite of blessing for same-sex couples. With that, St. Paul’s became the first congregation among the state’s 55 churches in the Episcopal Church U.S.A. to support such a ceremony.

Congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fayetteville and Little Rock have been offering commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples. Lowell Grisham, St. Paul’s rector, said the ceremonies are not marriages but rather recognition and blessing of the relationships.

In Arkansas, same-sex marriage is prohibited by statute and a state constitutional amendment. The amendment, approved by voters in November, defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Holly Park is one of St. Paul’s gay parishioners, and was involved in meetings at the church on the resolution. She said she was pleased with the vestry’s decision.

Park has been with her partner for 12 years, and says the rite of blessing would be a meaningful recognition of their relationship.

“To have the church say it is blessed would make us part of the community in a way we haven’t been before. It would mean a great deal,” Park said. “It would make our lives more whole, not between us because together we are whole, but between the church and community.”

In March, the Episcopal Church U.S.A.’s House of Bishops issued a moratorium on such ceremonies until its general convention in June 2006 in Columbus, Ohio. Grisham said St. Paul’s congregation will honor the moratorium.

The Rev. Jan Nunley, a spokesperson for Episcopal Church U.S.A. headquarters in New York, said that pastoral rites fall under the jurisdiction of local bishops, and even if the moratorium is lifted, some congregations might choose not to perform the ceremonies.

“Some diocesan bishops hold that proper pastoral care for lesbians and gays in their diocese includes such blessings and others do not, although all of them agreed to the moratorium,” she said. “Ultimately, that decision is up to the diocesan bishop.”

The resolution passed by St. Paul’s states: “The Vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church expresses its support for our church’s offering of a rite of blessing as a resource for pastoral care for our gay and lesbian members who wish to make a lifelong, loving commitment of mutual fidelity as a couple. By this resolution we communicate our position to our clergy, our Bishop and the [coming] General Convention of the Episcopal Church.”