Two years ago today, Kay and I had a Blessing Ceremony in our Congregational Church in Rochester, New Hampshire - our was only the second union service for a same-sex couple in our church.
One of the things that made the day so remarkable was out of 149 United Church of Christ churches in our state, there are only 19 in which we could have had such a service in the church sanctuary. You see, those 19 churches are Open and Affirming which means the congregation voted unanimously to permit Gay/Lesbian couples to have a Blessing Ceremony in the church, also it opened the door to the hiring of a Gay or Lesbian pastor, Sunday School teacher or the opportunity to serve on any board or committee.
Why, you're probably thinking, wouldn't any church permit this - Open and Affirming or not? I guess the only clear cut answer is, fear of the unknown. Who are these Gay & Lesbians? Do you know what they do in their bedrooms? They're all Pedophiles you know, and the very worst comment Kay and I were subjected to, "we don't want any of those dirty people coming into our church". Also, "we don't want to be known as the 'Gay Church' in town".
Kay and I worked for almost 10 years with the New Hampshire Conference, UCC, Open & Affirming Committee traveling to churches in the Conference that were interested in learning more about what it means to be Open and Affirming and telling our story and explaining the O&A concept. Of the 19 churches in the conference who went through the process successfully, we were responsible for bringing seven of them to a positive vote.
And now, today is our day to remember the warmth and love that poured over our Gay relationship two years ago in the sanctuary of our church as we received God's blessing on our union from the pastor of the church.
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