The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which leaders of Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that sexual practices between men and sexual practices between women are sinful and that holy matrimony can only exist between two persons of different sexes. These disagreements are primarily centred on the interpretation of various scripture passages related to homosexuality, sacred tradition, and in some churches on varying understandings of homosexuality in terms of psychology, genetics and other scientific data. While numerous church bodies have widely varying practices and teachings, individual Christians of every major tradition are involved in practical (orthopraxy) discussions about how to respond to the issue.
History In 1969, Pastor Troy Perry of the Metropolitan Community Church officiated at the wedding of two young men in Los Angeles.Jason Pierceson, Same-Sex Marriage in the United States: The Road to the Supreme Court and Beyond, Bloomsbury Publishing, UK, 2014, p. 32 In 1974, the pastor of the United Church of Christ William R. Johnson and San Francisco State University professor Sally Miller Gearhart published the book Loving Women/Loving Men: Gay Liberation and the Church, which argued, among other things, that marriage is a covenant relationship, regardless of gender.Clare Herbert, Towards a Theology of Same-Sex Marriage: Squaring the Circle, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, 2020, p. 123 Two years earlier, in 1972, the synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands adopted a report that called same-sex relationships "essentially equivalent" to marriage.
As early as 1978, various theologians argued that the covenant and deep relationship between David and Jonathan would be a biblical basis for same-sex marriage.Julia M. O'Brien, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies, Oxford University Press, USA, 2014, p. 259
In 1986, the Remonstrant Brotherhood (a small, liberal Protestant denomination in the Netherlands) decided to include the following article in its new church constitution, in place of a provision on the solemnization of marriage: "Two people who, in the presence of the Congregation or its representatives, promise to share their lives with one another in love and fidelity, may have a blessing pronounced upon the covenant thus entered into during a church service." From then on, the Remonstrants would no longer discriminate between marital and non-marital, opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. The first same-sex relationships were officially blessed in 1987. Unofficially, such blessings had been taking place in various Dutch (mainly Protestant) churches since the late 1960s, usually in a private church service.
In the context of the legalization of same-sex marriage in various countries and US states during the 2000s, and after national reflection, some Progressive Christian denominations then began to allow the blessing or same-sex marriage, usually leaving it to each local church to decide. After the legalization of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands in April 2001, the Mennonite Church in the Netherlands was one of the first to pass this resolution that same year. The Protestant Church in the Netherlands followed suit in 2004, but left the decision on whether or not to bless same-sex relationships to the local church councils. Similar resolutions have taken place on other continents, such as in the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in South America in 2010, in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa in 2015, in the Uniting Church in Australia in 2018.
Theological views of those who support same-sex unions and/or marriages Those Christians and churches which support blessing of same-sex unions and/or marriages do so from several perspectives: It is an affirmative good that stands alongside opposite-sex marriage and committed monastic celibacy as a revelation of God's self in the world. The logical coherence of the core Christian doctrines such as the Trinity, the Incarnation, the resurrection and the ascension is improved through the integration of same-sex marriage into the Christian conception of marriage. The understanding of marriage as a metaphor of Christ's relationship with the Church is strengthened by assimilating same-sex marriage into that metaphor. Some scholars maintain that scripture in the original languages contains no prohibition of homosexuality, but does record same-sex marriage. "But if we take a closer look, reading the scripture in the original Hebrew and Greek, we discover that God never condemned homosexuality, and that same-sex marriage existed in Bible times."Gay and Christian? Yes!, pp. 1–70, Rev. William H. Carey, 2006, 2008 Lulu.com "To tell a homosexual that the Bible is Good News, (but that) it says that their ability to love on a one-to-one basis (mate level) means they are sinful and perverted in God's eyes is a gross contradiction in terms. What's more, God is not saying this to gay people. God's Word is this: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, KJV). And that is the Good News for modern gays."Good News for Modern Gays, pp. 1–213, Rev. Sylvia Pennington, 1985 Lambda Lite Productions The Biblical references to homosexuality were uttered in the context of promiscuous same-sex practices of Hellenistic cultures (Paul) and cultures surrounding the people of Israel (Deut), especially when the interaction was between two people not of equal standing, and thus could be viewed as coercive and non-consensual. This kind of sex without love was often practiced by heterosexual men in lieu of going to female prostitutes. It is a discriminating misconception of our times to transfer that prohibition of such promiscuous practice without love to what we discuss here: durable, long-term, selective same-sex unions.Streitfall Liebe – Biblische Plädoyers wider die Ausgrenzung homosexuelller Menschen, Valeria Hinck, Mering : Pro-Literatur-Verlag 2007 http://d-nb.info/984453415
Partial overview
Anglicanism
In 2004, the then archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, asked the Lambeth Commission on Communion to produce a report looking into the legal and theological implications flowing from decisions related to homosexuality that were apparently threatening the Anglican Communion, including decisions relating to the blessing of same-sex unions. Once published the Windsor Report led to the calling by the Lambeth Commission for a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex unions, and recommended that bishops who have authorised such rites in the United States and Canada "be invited to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorisation." The report was roundly condemned by supporters of the gay and lesbian community, as well as by a number of theologians for its partiality.The Windsor Report was the subject of a special issue of the Anglican Theological Review (Volume 87, no. 4, 2005), which contained sharp criticism, historical analysis, and more appreciative articles from a broad spectrum of theologians. To date, "the more liberal provinces that are open to changing Church doctrine on marriage in order to allow same-sex unions include Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, South India, South Africa, the US and Wales".
Anglican Church of Canada The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2004 voted to defer a decision of same-sex blessings until 2007, but also to "Affirm the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-sex relationships". In 2007, a resolution enabling diocesan bishops to authorize the blessing of same-gender unions narrowly failed, but a statement adopted by General Synod in 2010 "acknowledge[d] diverse pastoral practices as dioceses respond to their own missional contexts," effectively devolving decisions about blessings to local dioceses.
The Anglican Church of Canada does not distinguish theologically between a marriage solemnized in church and a civil marriage subsequently blessed by a priest. Currently, three dioceses – New Westminster, Niagara, and Montréal – extend the blessing of civil marriages to same-sex couples. Procedures for blessings are in development in Ottawa and Toronto. In 2010 the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada voted to study a proposal to bless only those marriages that have been civilly registered, even where marriage is reserved to heterosexual couples, abrogating the role of clergy as delegates of the provincial registrar altogether.
The blessing of same-sex unions became a subject of media attention in the Vancouver area in May, 2003 when Bishop Michael Ingham of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster announced that he had given priests in some parishes the authority to bless gay and lesbian unions. Bishop Ingham issued a rite of blessing of people in committed same-sex unions on May 23, 2003. This was done in response to requests by three consecutive Diocesan Synods, culminating in June, 2002. The diocese considers that the blessing of same-sex couples is one part of their work of community outreach and care for parishioners. The blessing is a way that some priests use to ensure that homosexual people who seek to be included in the Anglican Communion feel safe and respected. The blessing is a "pastoral tool". Some priests in some parishes (six out of 80) bless permanent faithful relationships. Permission is granted by the bishop only when a priest requests it, and a parish has decided by majority vote, that they want to be a place of blessing. Ingham says of the practice: I insist only that those on all sides of the issue respect one another and that everyone should maintain the order of the church. Our goal in the Anglican Church in the Greater Vancouver area is to be a church that accommodates differences.
In 2009, the Anglican Diocese of Niagara in southwestern Ontario became the second diocese to authorize the blessing of same-sex unions when Bishop Michael Bird approved a gender-neutral rite for the blessing of civil marriages. The rite was permitted for use in consultation with the diocesan bishop beginning September 1, 2009.
In 2009, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa authorized the blessing of same-sex unions in a single parish: the Church of St John the Evangelist. Rather than issuing a specific rite, Bishop Chapman authorized an existing rite already in use for the blessing of civil marriages between opposite-sex couples.
In 2010, Barry Clarke, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal, authorized the blessing of same-sex unions. He issued a rite and guidelines to permit the blessing of civil marriages regardless of the gender of the spouses. The rite had been adapted from an existing rite already in use for the blessing of civil marriages between opposite-sex couples.
A limited number of parishes in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto have been authorized to bless same-sex unions. Rather than crafting a specific rite of blessing, the Archbishop of Toronto issued guidelines setting rules and restrictions on blessings. Blessings must not resemble too closely a marriage rite, with the specific proviso that no form of blessing used for marriage in the official rites of the Anglican Church of Canada or other parts of the Anglican Communion may be used with same-sex couples.