Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden Says Yes to Gay Marriage

With some far right members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America already having vapors and conniption fits over the Churchwide Assembly vote this past August to allow partnered gay clergy, this move to allow same sex church weddings - which I support completely - by the ELCA's sister Church of Sweden ought to put the Neanderthals into utter aneurysm territory. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a trend where modern knowledge of the immutability of one's sexual orientation will trump ignorance and bigotry. Here are some highlights from The Local, a Swedish English publication:

*

The Synod of the Lutheran Church of Sweden has come down in favour of church weddings for homosexuals in a vote held on Thursday morning. The decision, which is based on a proposal from the church’s governing board, means that the Church of Sweden will conduct wedding ceremonies for both heterosexual and homosexual couples. The proposal was approved by 176 of 249 voting members.

*

“The Synod’s decision takes a stance in favour of an inclusive view of people. Regardless of whether one is religious or not, this affects the entire social climate and the view of people’s equal value,” Åsa Regnér, head of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) - the country's largest gay rights group, said in a statement. In June, the church board took the first step towards permitting same-sex marriages by submitting a petition to the Church of Sweden Synod – the church's highest decision-making body.

*

The board proposed the church continue to perform wedding ceremonies following new legislation which came into force on May 1st and grants same-sex couples in Sweden the same legal marriage status as heterosexuals.

*

Current church regulations will likely continue to apply in practice, with some alterations, such as replacing “man and wife” with “lawfully wedded spouses” when a homosexual couple is married. Individual pastors would also still be able to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples.

*

The ruling by the Synod, which has 251 delegates - two of which were absent from Thursday's vote, puts Sweden among the first countries in the world to allow gays to marry in a major church.

*

Not surprisingly, homophobes in other denominations - which in my opinion have forgotten the real Gospel message - have gone off the deep end as further reported by The Local:

*

Representatives from the Catholic and Orthodox churches in Sweden, however, were disappointed by Thursday’s decision.“It is with great sorry that we receive news that the Church of Sweden’s Synod has today decided to wed same-sex couples that it will be referred to as marriage.

*

Church of England spokesperson Steve Jenkins confirmed that relations between the two churches may be headed for a turbulent phase in the wake of the decision.