Majority in the Norwegian Church Council support gay marriage
On Saturday morning during Synod the Norwegian Church Council started its first plenary treatment in the issue of gay marriage. The majority want a new wedding liturgy for gays.
8:30 am Saturday morning the Synod started the discussion on the issue of same-sex marriage, a difficult issue that has received much attention in advance of the meeting and during the church elections last fall.
The proposal of providing two liturgies and that the Church is to have a gender-neutral view of marriage is supported by a majority of the members. 15 of 23 members request that the General Synod approves developing a liturgy for wedding people of the same sex:
– A majority of the Synod believes that in addition to the current liturgy of marriage and the prayers for women and men entering into civil marriage, we should develop similar liturgies that include same-sex couples and that may be applied to all couples, the report from the meeting reads
A minority of 8 members , however, suggest that a greater elucidation into the issue is needed. The minority wants a particular focus on the consequences of same-gender marriage for the situation of children and children’s rights, and for the church’s theology of the family
On Monday the Synod will decide whether gays will get their own liturgy and be allowed to get married in church. If the Synod decides on developing a new wedding liturgy, this could be adopted at the next meeting, which is in January 2017.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
