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CHURCH DEMANDS EQUAL RIGHTS FOR SAME-SEX WEDDINGS

Suspends legal weddings until gays may also marry.

March 30: The oldest non-conformist church in London has announced it will refrain from conducting legal weddings until the unfair ban on religious content in civil partnership registrations is lifted.

The Newington Green Unitarian congregation is taking this action in solidarity with gay and lesbian couples who are discriminated against in current laws governing marriage and civil partnership. The congregation’s minister will continue to conduct blessings of marriages and of civil partnerships – a ceremony that is available to all couples.

Dr. Andrew Pakula, minister, explained why his congregation decided to take this action. “The Civil Partnership Act of 2004, while a major step forward, deeply wounds religious same-sex couples by denying them the right to formalize their partnerships in the heart of their own spiritual communities. They are being treated like second class citizens when they are forbidden to celebrate their unions in a way that heterosexual couples take for granted.”

The congregation’s action is in accord with a call made last week by the Unitarians’ national conference for the law to be changed to allow religious content in civil partnership registrations.

The congregation’s chairperson, Dr. Heather Suckling, pointed to Unitarianism’s long history of dissent. “For centuries, Unitarians have struggled under state oppression. Initially, it was because Unitarians insisted on placing conscience above blind adherence to church teaching and questioned Christian doctrine. Now, our religious freedom is infringed when the state makes it a crime to utter a religious word during the registration of a civil partnership or to host that event in our congregations.”

Dr. Pakula said he was proud of his congregation’s stance. “Unitarian communities bring together people of different beliefs, ethnicities, ages, abilities, and sexual orientations. Commitment to the inherent worth of all people is a core value for us. The current law requires us to participate in state-mandated discrimination if we would host legal marriages. In making the decision to not offer legal weddings on our premises, we stand by our values and we say ‘no’ to bigotry, to homophobia, and to discrimination against gay and lesbian couples.”

The Newington Green Unitarian Church, long a beacon of liberal religious faith, celebrates the tercentenary of its building this year with a series of events beginning in May. For further information contact Andrew Pakula (email: apakula@gmail.com) or phone 078091 44879.

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For a sermon that addresses our position on marriage equality, please see: 'The Prophet Motive'

© 2007 Islington and Newington Green Unitarians For comments or enquiries