Britain’s Methodist Church has announced that same-sex couples will be allowed to get married on its premises.
After debates on the topic at Methodist Conference on Wednesday, the proposals to allow same-sex marriages were passed with 254 votes in favor and 46 against, with the first same-sex weddings in Methodist chapels expected in the autumn.
A freedom of conscience clause will allow ministers to opt out of conducting such weddings meaning ministers who oppose the changes will not be forced to carry out same-sex marriages.
Rev Sonia Hicks, elected as the Methodists’ first black female president at the weekend, said it was a “historic day for our church”.
She urged people “to support each other respecting our differences”.
Methodist church is the UK’s fourth-largest Christian denomination, with about 164,000 members in more than 4,000 churches.
The motion required a change to the definition of marriage to be “a lifelong union in body, mind and spirit of two people who freely enter it”.
The conference also voted to recognise, accept, and celebrate the love and commitment of unmarried cohabiting couples.
Same-sex marriage is forbidden in the Church of England and the Roman Catholic church, but permitted by Quakers in Britain, the Scottish Episcopal church and United Reformed Church.
Jayne Ozanne, a campaigner for LGBT+ equality and a member of C of E’s ruling body, the General Synod, said the vote reflected “the significant shift that there has been among Christian attitudes in England, and shows how so many people would echo the recent call of Bishop Paul Bayes to allow same-sex marriage in the C of E”.
Also, Dignity & Worth, a campaign group in the Methodist Church, said the vote was a “momentous step on the road to justice and inclusion” after many years of sometimes painful conversations.
On his part, Rev. Sam McBratney, who chairs the group, praised the “courageous step” taken by the church.
However, underlining the divisions within the C of E on sexuality, Andrea Minichiello Williams, of the conservative group Christian Concern, said;
God’s plan for sex is one man, one woman marriage … Every church denomination – including Methodists and the C of E – should confidently proclaim this vision, rather than mirror the zeitgeist.
The latest development comes months after Vatican on Monday, March 15 declared that the Catholic Church or its priests cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”
Read Also: Vatican Says Catholic Church Can’t Bless Same-Sex Unions
The statement was made by Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) as a formal response to a question regarding the Church’s power to bless same-sex marriages. The two-page statement published in seven languages was approved by Pope Francis.
The decree distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions.
While the Vatican said that the community should welcome gay people with “respect and sensitivity,” their unions would not receive the same embrace, as under Catholic teachings, marriages as per “God’s plan” should be between a man and a woman to create new life.
Since gay unions are not intended to be part of that plan, they cannot be blessed by the church, the document said.
However, the official stance of Catholic Church was greeted with disappointment on social media, especially by those who’d expected Pope Francis to break from tradition following comments made public last year that indicated his support for same-sex couples.
