My statement on the 4th Circuit US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on marriage on July 28, 2014

I’m a priest, not a lawyer, so my perspective on what this ruling will mean for NC is concerned with the people, not the law. I am witnessing so much joy and hope from the LGBTQA community since news of the ruling hit yesterday. Neighbors who have been excluded from marriage because of their sexual orientation and who experience discrimination on a regular basis, now express renewed hope. Some of my LGBTQ friends are contacting me to begin discussions about getting married.

The Christian community is one of hope. Our purpose is to work to reconcile all to God and one another in Jesus Christ. Our journey began in the first century when Paul suggested Gentiles be welcomed into the church. Even Peter balked a that until God opened his heart and mind with a dream that made the early church an inclusive one. Fifty years ago, the Christian church struggled to welcome people of color. Today we are struggling to welcome people of differing sexual orientations. We’ve been here before and the love of God in Christ always shows us how to widen our tent posts and include the excluded who are also beloved of God.

I think this ruling will also cause many in the Christian community to grieve. I pray for kindness, grace, and respect toward all as we continue the journey this ruling begins for us in NC.

This ruling doesn’t make some winners and some losers. It simply prohibits one group of people from discriminating against another using the force of law. Churches and Christians who believe gay marriage is wrong will not be forced to marry gays. Churches and Christians who believe in marriage equality will soon no longer be inhibited from living out our beliefs and conferring this sacramental grace on all who seek it.

As an Episcopal priest, the marriage of anyone in my church is at my discretion. My decision on whether or not to marry a couple is made during a six-week course of pre-marital counseling. I take the sacramental rite of marriage very seriously. It is a sacred union which, as our Book of Common Prayer says, “signifies the mystical union between Christ and the church… and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people… Therefore, marriage should… be entered into…reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.” (p. 423) That purpose is the mutual joy of the couple and the building of a life together that bears the fruits of Christian love. My great joy is that this ruling by the 4th circuit court opens the way for marriage equality and I look forward to blessing relationships that reflect the covenant love of Christ for us – gay or straight.