Breaking: Scottish Episcopal Church approves same-sex marriage
By Will Stroude
The Scottish Episcopal Church has voted to allow gay couples to marry in church.
The landmark vote to remove the Church’s stipulation that marriage is between a man and a woman, was carried by the Synod in Edinburgh on Thursday afternoon (June 8).
It makes it the first Anglican Church in the UK to permit marriage between gay couples, who can now marry in Scottish Anglican Churches.
A two-thirds majority was needed in three Church groups – the Bishops, the Clergy, and the Laity – for the motion to pass.
In the end it was backed by 80% of Bishops, 67.7% of Clergy and 80.6% of the Laity.
#Pisky pic.twitter.com/QQBcX1ZWb9
— Scottish Episcopal (@secsynod) June 8, 2017
The Church’s presiding bishop or ‘Primus’, David Chillingworth, welcomed the decision, saying: “This is a momentous step. By removing gender from our marriage canon, our church now affirms that a same-sex couple are not just married but are married in the sight of God.
Despite the historic vote, the issue of same-sex marriage has caused deep division within the Scottish Episcopal Church and wider Anglican Communion, and there are concerns that the organisation could split in the wake of the decision.
In an attempt to reduce the division, Thursday’s motion contained a clause specifying that clergy will not be obligated to officiate same-sex weddings – instead, they must “opt-in” if they wish to do so.
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