Church Endorses Same-Sex Marriage

MICHELE NORRIS, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.

The United Church of Christ voted today to endorse gay marriage. That makes the 1.3 million-member UCC the largest mainline church to approve same-sex marriage. While individual congregations are free to disregard the decision, some in the church are worried the vote will cause others to flee the denomination. NPR's Larry Abramson has the story.

LARRY ABRAMSON reporting:

The United Church of Christ is believed to have ordained the first gay minister in the US 33 years ago, and for many of those gathered for the general synod in Atlanta, Georgia, the vote was, if anything, overdue. Paul Osgood of the church's Missouri Mid-South Conference told the 3,000 members of the synod he had long felt welcome in the church as a gay man.

(Soundbite of speech)

Mr. PAUL OSGOOD (Gay Parishioner): You accepted me when no one else would accept me. Oh, others would accept my money but they wouldn't accept me. I finally found a denomination that will accept both me and my money.

ABRAMSON: One minister said that he had long been pained to know that he would be able to perform a marriage for his straight son but not for his other child, who is gay. For many the question was simply when to do this and how to make peace with those who oppose the measure. Some Anglican churches have threatened to break away because of the ordination of a gay bishop by the Episcopal church in the US. Steve Gray of the UCC Indiana-Kentucky Conference said he supports gay marriage but worries about the cost of this decision.

(Soundbite of speech)

Mr. STEVE GRAY (Indiana-Kentucky Conference, United Church of Christ): The cost will be a loss of churches and members and income and revenue and morale. My hope was that we would have at least two years for our members to catch up.

ABRAMSON: But there will be no time to catch up. Attempts to soften or delay the resolution were defeated and the United Church of Christ voted overwhelmingly to sanction gay marriages. Opponents of gay marriage at the gathering said they now face a tough mission, going back home and explaining to their congregations that they now belong to the largest mainstream church to take such a step. Some say that won't be easy. Reverend Brett Becker of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Cibolo, Texas, says the vote shows that the leadership does not speak for the entire church.

Reverend BRETT BECKER (St. Paul United Church of Christ): If the people in the pews could vote, this wouldn't stand a chance. Back in Genesis God's the one who instituted marriage. It's his institution and he's the one who defines it. No human being, no church, no state can redefine what God has already defined.

ABRAMSON: Reverend Becker says he wants to stay in the United Church of Christ and push for reform from within, but he says many of his members already want out.

The practical impact of the vote may actually be limited. The vote is technically a Resolution of Witness and does not set policy for the 5,700 member churches worldwide which operate autonomously. But the symbolic impact could be broad. That's the hope of many like Reverend Libby Tigner of the First Congregational Church of Long Beach, one of those who introduced the resolution. She says the vote was needed now as a message to those pushing a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.

Reverend LIBBY TIGNER (First Congregational Church of Long Beach): The sitting president has called for a constitutional amendment on this very issue. And so to wait would, I think, for me, in my opinion, weaken our prophetic voice and the relevance of this resolution.

ABRAMSON: Some UCC ministers have already been performing gay marriages. Of course, only those couples getting married in Massachusetts will also have the recognition of the state.

Larry Abramson, NPR News.

(Soundbite of music)

Copyright © 2005 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

Accuracy and availability of transcripts for NPR programming may vary. Transcript text may also be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Please note that NPR platforms and products also include some programming produced by third parties; NPR cannot guarantee transcripts for that content and some transcripts may be produced using automated or other tools.