A N. Carolina church made a bold statement in support of gay marriage by vowing to halt traditional weddings if gay marriage isn’t legalized by the Supreme Court.
The Green Street United Methodist Church released a statement on Monday asking pastors to stop performing weddings for heterosexuals until same sex weddings cane be performed in the church.
“At Green Street Church, we claim the committed same-sex relationships as no less sacred in their ministry to us and the community,” the statement reads.
The last time a pastor took such a controversial stand, his church was shuttered after 3/4 of the congregation left.
A simple stroke of a pen by President Obama would give civil unions the same rights and privileges afforded to traditional marriages without re-writing the Bible. What ever happened to separation of church and state?
From Green Street Church (via Salon.com):
As an Anti-Racist, Reconciling Congregation, Green Street United Methodist Church seeks to be in faithful ministry with all people in the brokenness of our world. This statement is being adopted as a sign of our commitment to love and justice for all people.
The Marriage Covenant between two people is a ministry of the church. Couples making a commitment to one another need a supportive community of faith to sustain and uphold them so as to grow in faith and love. Weddings are the occasion for covenant making, a time to seek God’s blessing on their commitment to one another. When a couple chooses to be married in the church, they should also be conscious that they are making a declaration of their relationship as a new ministry for the congregation and the world. At Green Street Church, we claim the committed same-sex relationships as no less sacred in their ministry to us and the community.
But sadly, at this time in the United Methodist Church, marriages, weddings and holy unions are limited to heterosexual couples. As our nation struggles to provide legal recognition to people in same-sex relationships and provide them the privileges allotted to opposite-sex married couples, our denomination struggles to overcome the sin of reserving these sacramental privileges for straight people only. We, the leaders of Green Street Church, see people in same-sex relationships as completely worthy of the Sacrament of Marriage. We reject any notion that they are second class citizens in the Kingdom of God.
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