Scotland Becomes The First Anglican Church In Britain To Conduct Gay Weddings
The move isn't entirely welcomed across the entire Anglican Canon but somebody had to be first.
What this means is that gay couples who adhere to the Anglican faith can travel to Scotland and marry in a church and that marriage will be recognised by the entire Anglican Communion.
This is a significant move. It is a number of years now since Civil Partnerships became officially recognised as marriages in UK and it became legal for any church to conduct same sex marriages. But each individual church had to opt into this and could not be prosecuted under anti-discrimination law if they refused to do so.
The Church of England, the largest part of the Anglican Communion, has staunchly refused, with the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to opt in. How Christian of them..!! And so far the other Anglican churches have toed the line.
Until now.
The immediate response from Canterbury is one of much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but there is no doubt that the first cracks in the solidarity of the Anglican church are starting to show.
Many English, Welsh and Northern Irish couples would, I'm sure, rather have their big day in their own local church but if travelling to Scotland is what they have to do to wed before their God, then that's what they'll do.
How much pressure this will put on other Anglican churches is yet to be seen. But we chip away at the edifice brick by brick.
And eventually, the walls come tumbling down.
Looks kinda good to me.