Episcopal Church Overwhelmingly Votes To Allow Religious Weddings For Same-Sex Couples

Marriage equality wins again! The Episcopal Church overwhelmingly votes to allow religious weddings for same-sex couples.

On Wednesday the Episcopal Church overwhelmingly voted to allow religious weddings for same-sex couples. The vote occurred at the Episcopal General Convention in Salt Lake City, and it passed in the House of Deputies just days after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized marriage equality.

The new rule will be implemented after November 1, and will eliminate gender-specific language from church laws on marriage. Instead of words like “husband” and “wife,” the new church law will use words like “the couple.” Same-sex couples will be permitted to have religious weddings in the church; however the new rule also gives clergy permission to decline to perform the ceremonies.

According to Business Insider, the 1.9 million member Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the Anglican Communion, an 80 million-member global fellowship of churches, and they join two other Protestant groups that allow same-sex marriages in all their congregations. Those groups are the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The Episcopal Church also made history back in 2003 when they elected Bishop Gene Robinson (photo) as the first openly gay bishop in the Angelican Church. Robinson made global headlines again back in 2009 when Obama selected Robinson to lead a prayer during the kick off to the Presidential Inaugural events. 

“It’s a day I wasn’t sure I would live to see,” Robinson, who officially retired last year, said, according to the New York Times. “What we’re seeing I think in the Episcopal Church, and last week with the Supreme Court decision, is an entire culture evolving into understanding that gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender people contribute just as much as anyone else to this society and deserve all the same rights.” 

For anyone interested in getting a better understanding of how to positively discuss the LGBT community in religious debates, check out God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. The book by Matthew Vines was released earlier this month.    

 

Video via Christianity Today 
Image by Marc Nozell via Flickr and a CC license