Should the church celebrate same-sex marriages? Maybe
When it comes to marriage, my head and my heart are split. In the six years that I’ve been a minister of the Uniting Church, and thus a registered religious marriage celebrant, I’ve celebrated the marriages of 34 couples. They’ve been of various ages. Most, but not all, have been Australians. All but two of the couples had been living together for years when they came to meet with me. Sometimes, a year or so after the wedding, I’ve baptised a child of the marriage. In other cases I’ve baptised the children, and then married their parents. Weddings have been held in the Royal Melbourne Zoo, at a farm, on the top of Mount Dandenong, and in a hotel owned by the groom, as well as in churches. Some people have asked me to preside at their wedding because they or their relatives have been congregation members; some have been friends; some have just been looking for a pretty church; others have been guests at a wedding I’ve celebrated and have decided that they’d like me to do theirs too; and in one case I was related to the groom, so I had a fun year telling people I was going to marry my brother. Continue reading
