Getting married in a church setting is a ceremony venue seen much more frequently at heterosexual weddings than LGBTQ+ weddings. Lack of acceptance of same-sex relationships in certain religions has contributed to the rate that same-sex couples choose to have a religious wedding in a church.
At the triennial Episcopal General Convention that took place in Austin, Texas, this July a resolution was passed allowing same-sex couples to get married in their preferred place of worship.
While same-sex weddings were already allowed in most of the Episcopal Church, bishops in eight of the Episcopal dioceses did not permit them. The resolution voted on favorably at the convention has overridden that stance, with some exception.
“Under the resolution passed Friday, clergy still can decline to bless or solemnize any marriage,” wrote The Tennessean. “But if the couples live in a diocese where the bishop theologically objects to same-sex marriages, that bishop will tap, if necessary, another willing one to provide pastoral support to all involved.”
The Episcopal Church of the United States was not the only one to make a historic ruling about marriage equality recently. Australia’s Uniting Church voted in favor of allowing same-sex weddings in the church for the first time.
The Uniting Church is the third largest Christian denomination in Australia behind the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, with nearly a million followers.
The resolution creates two equal and distinct views on marriage honoring the diversity of Christian belief in the Uniting Church, one inclusive of same-sex marriage and one expressing that marriage is between a man and a woman.
This decision comes after the rise in wedding celebrations after Australia voted in favor of marriage equality.
