Bishop Kee Sloan, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, voted in favor of a new ritual of blessing for same-sex unions that the Episcopal Church approved during its 2012 General Convention.

At the time, he said he wouldn't allow blessings of same-sex unions in Alabama churches. It was too divisive and the state wasn't ready, he said. Now, Alabama is ready, he said. "I just needed to wait for the right time," Sloan told AL.com.

"This is not marriage, and has nothing to do with the federal judge in Mobile or the Supreme Court," Sloan said. "This is blessing a same-sex union."

Same-sex couples who have a civil ceremony and also want the blessing of the church can now apply to have that ceremony.

"It's really important to us to be truly inclusive, of people who are homosexual, and people who are concerned about this (same-sex unions)," said Sloan, head of the Diocese of Alabama. "All of God's children. We wanted to come up with a policy for priests who feel this is a valuable mission. At the same time, for parishes that feel this is not what they think is right, to maintain for them the right to not do this."

The revised guidelines will take effect after the annual convention of the Diocese of Alabama, meeting Feb. 6-7 at Christ Episcopal Church in Tuscaloosa, Sloan said. At that point, he will accept applications from priests who want to conduct a same-sex blessing. They have to have approval of the church's elected leadership, called the vestry.

"The mechanics of the policy is that a parish and the priest at the parish must come to an agreement, meet with the parish, do some education on how this is done and why," Sloan said. "If the vestry agrees, the vestry writes a letter to the bishop, saying we would like to be authorized to do this. Then the priest can write a letter, saying he knows two people in a lifelong commitment, and ask for permission for a blessing ceremony."

The Alabama Marriage Protection Act, an amendment to the state constitution, and the Alabama Marriage Protection Act, passed by Alabama to prevent same-sex marriage, were both ruled unconstitutional in January by U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade in Mobile. If it's not overruled on appeal, gay marriage will become legal in Alabama.

Sloan said the guidelines for blessing same-sex unions were written over the past year, unrelated to court rulings on gay marriage.

"Our policy was written without really talking about marriage," Sloan said. "Everybody who's paying attention has known that a lot of states are lifting the ban on same-sex marriages. We don't really have any control over that. Our issue was, 'How can we bless same sex unions?' Clergy are bound by the laws of Alabama and the canons (church laws) of the Episcopal Church."

The official stance of the Episcopal Church remains that marriage is between one man and one woman. There could be a vote to change church law at the Episcopal Church General Convention this summer.

"My understanding of the church's canons is that they describe marriage as between a man and a woman," Sloan said. "I assume we'll address that at the General Convention this summer in Salt Lake City. It takes two successive General Conventions to change the canons."

If approved at the next two General Conventions, this year and 2018, then the church could solemnize same-sex marriage, rather than just blessing couples that have been married by a civil authority.

"We're not talking about solemnizing marriages (now)," Sloan said. "If a couple goes to a judge and the legal contract is performed, that couple can come to the Episcopal Church and have a civil marriage blessed. We won't be able to act as agents of the state in solemnizing a marriage."

Sloan said the accommodation has been done without major turmoil.

"We were able to discuss differences of opinion without being disrespectful, mean-spirited or unloving," Sloan said.

Some people think it has taken too long, Sloan said. "I don't think this is something we should be in a hurry to do," Sloan said. "I know there are some people who think we're moving too slowly. We are going slowly. I think it's important we keep the church together. There are people convinced this is the wrong thing to do. It is incredibly complicated. Ultimately we're talking about people who have real relationships, real smiles, real tears. I've heard from people who are opposed to this. I've heard from people who think we're going too slow. We'll be able to bless the unions of marriages that were done in Alabama."

Sloan said he will thank the church for its work on the issue when he speaks at the convention in Tuscaloosa. "I will express again that we are not of one mind about this, but we are still one church together," Sloan said. "I think we as a diocese have handled it in a loving, respectful way."