Lauren Stanforth and Mallory Moench are reporting for the Times Union Albany Episcopal Diocese Bishop Rev. William H. Love issued an edict November 10, banning the marriage of same-sex couples in the diocese's churches. Love said in a statement the church has been "hijacked" by what he calls the 'Gay Rights Agenda,' and that "Satan is having a heyday bringing division into the Church." Love's pastoral directive comes three weeks before a resolution goes into effect that will allow same-sex marriages to be performed in Episcopal churches nationwide. Love cited portions of the Old and New Testaments to argue that God specifically designed marriage to be between a man and a woman, and that scripture directs that sexual relationships between same-sex couples are "sinful and forbidden." Some local Episcopalians strongly disagreed with the Bishop's letter. While the letter was being read at St. Andrew's in Albany this weekend, some parishioners gathered on the church steps to burn the letter. Rev. J. Nixon McMillan at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Albany declined to comment. Other local clergy could not be reached for comment. In July, the church issued a directive that does not make same-sex marriage part of the official theology of the church, but allows clergy to conduct same-sex marriage even if a local bishop disapproves by inviting another bishop to oversee the service so congregants can marry in their parish home. Love's directive says those rites "shall not be used anywhere in the Diocese of Albany by diocesan clergy..." Read the full story in the Times Union.