By Bob Smietana, Christianity Today. More than 120,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide last year. (The number of American weddings in 2014, by comparison, was more than 2.1 million.) For preachers, requests to officiate a same-sex wedding remain rare. Just 11 percent of the 1,000 Protestant senior…
A Review of Inclusive Marriage Services: A Wedding Sourcebook By S. Donald Fortson*. Several mainline writers have collaborated on a recent book, Inclusive Marriage Services: A Wedding Sourcebook.[1] Contributors to the short volume, not surprisingly, come from denominations such as the UCC, TEC, ELCA and PCUSA – bodies that no longer confess Christian teaching on human…
By John Mark N. Reynolds, Patheos. Tokenism is one of the great intellectual plagues of our time, infecting right and left, Christians and non-Christians. Tokenism is making a big deal out of a small example. Tokenism is toxic when a company thinks hiring one person of color solves their “diversity problem.” Tokenism is also debilitating…
By Jim Davis, Get Religion. To the surprise of few, the American public hasn’t flocked to the gay marriage side just because the Supreme Court made it the law of the land. It may surprise some that public approval of same-sex marriage has actually dropped a bit, according to a new Associated Press poll. A…
By David Roach, Baptist Press. At least three mainline Protestant denominations have celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s nationwide legalization of gay marriage, and others say they are divided on the issue. With a new Associated Press poll suggesting decreased support for same-sex marriage among Americans generally, a watchdog group that monitors mainline bodies said gay-affirming…
On Tuesday, during an interview with Jimmy Carter about his forthcoming memoir at 90, Huff Post Live’s Marc Lamont Hill worked the conversation around to the topic du jour: gay marriage. Carter deftly deflected the initial question saying that he has no problem with it. Then the former President, aware of his stature as a public moralist,…
By Emily Belz, World Magazine. Attorney Jim Campbell, who handles various constitutional cases for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), has a working list written down at his office in Scottsdale, Ariz. The list details benefits religious nonprofits could lose if the Supreme Court makes gay marriage a constitutional right. When he arrived at work recently,…
By Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post. A United Methodist body approved proposed legislation that would, among other things, allow clergy to perform gay marriage ceremonies and local conferences to ordain non-celibate homosexuals. The Connectional Table voted 26 to 10 in favor of proposed legislation that would allow clergy to perform gay weddings without concern of…
By Genna Murray, The News Letter of Northern Ireland.The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has told of its disappointment at the result of the marriage referendum in the Republic. In a statement, Norman Hamilton, convener of the Church’s Council for Church in Society, said: “We are deeply disappointed and saddened that the Constitution will no longer…
By Daniel Darling, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The Supreme Court of the United States just heard oral arguments on gay marriage. If they rule, as most court observers expect, to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states, pastors and church leaders will face a new reality. Two wrong approaches to culture As discussion and…