United Reformed Church becomes first in UK to approve same-sex marriages
The United Reformed Church has voted to allow same-sex marriage in its churches, making it the first church in the U.K. to do so.
The voting was done during the church's General Assembly in Southport, giving a turnout of 240 votes in favor of the resolution and only 21 votes opposed to it.
The General Assembly tackled the issue twice before: first in 2014 and second in June 2015.
Churches can now register their buildings as venues for same-sex weddings if they wish. However, congregations within the URC that do not want to take part in such ceremonies are free not to register. This means individual churches get to decide if they want to participate in same-sex weddings or not.
Likewise, ministers who do not want to perform same-sex weddings will not be forced to officiate even if their buildings are registered. In such cases, the church would have to ask a minister from a neighboring church to officiate.
"Local churches cannot, and the denomination will not, compel ministers to conduct same-sex marriages against their conscience; a neighboring minister could be asked by the local church to take the service," the URC said on its website.
On the other hand, ministers cannot prevent the wedding of same-sex couples even if their conviction does not agree with it.
"URC ministers who do not wish to conduct the weddings of same-sex couples, from either theological or pastoral convictions, may nonetheless not prevent local churches from registering their buildings," URC said.
Weddings of same-sex couples are expected to happen as early as this coming autumn.
The church's decision was an important one, according to URC's general secretary Rev. John Proctor, although he acknowledged that not everyone will be happy about it.
The question of allowing same-sex marriage is a sensitive issue. URC did not come to the decision hastily but took its time and carefully evaluated the conflicting positions on the matter, Proctor explained.
