July 5, 2005
Associated Press

Church's gay marriage endorsement creates tension
By Joe Milicia, Associated Press Writer

CLEVELAND -- The United Church of Christ's endorsement of same-sex marriage is causing a stir with at least one church threatening to leave. However, religion experts say the liberal denomination won't lose many members or congregations.

The Cleveland-based church's rule-making body has made it the largest Christian denomination to endorse gay marriage.

The Rev. J.R. McAliley, pastor of Center Congregational Church in Atlanta, said his church will likely pull away from the United Church of Christ and align with another group.

McAliley said his congregation is open to gay members, but does not accept same-sex marriage because they believe gay behavior is a sin.

"We need to be much more clear about the scriptural perspective of the openness of church to all sinners," McAliley said. "It doesn't say that we are to condone or accept any sin. We are to help people find a way back to the way of Christ."

The resolution by the church's rule-making body calls on member churches to consider wedding policies "that do not discriminate against couples based on gender."

Roughly 80 percent of the representatives on the church's 884-member General Synod voted to approve the resolution Monday in Atlanta, a day after a committee recommended it. The endorsement is not binding on individual congregations, which have a total of 1.3 million members.

Nancy Ammerman, professor of sociology of religion at Boston University, expects few defections.

Although the resolution will create some conflict within congregations, she predicts that many of the UCC's autonomous churches will be neutral or friendly to the endorsement.

"It's not like it's a secret that the UCC is supportive of gay and lesbian people," said Ammerman, noting its television advertising campaign that featured a gay couple being excluded from a church. "It's a logical next step. It's not an unexpected development."

The 150 members of the West Hartford, Conn., Flagg Road UCC Congregational Church will likely support gay marriage, said the Rev. Doreen M. McFarlane, the church's pastor.

She predicted any split over gay marriage would divide individual congregations rather than churches grouped in geographical regions.

The United Church of Christ's Connecticut Conference endorsed marriage for same-sex couples in 2004, but local churches decide whether to follow the policy.

Members of the First Congregational Church in Torrington voted last month to leave the United Church of Christ, citing disagreements with the denomination's stance on human sexuality and other issues.

First Congregational was the fourth parish in the state church's Northwest District to leave in recent months. The others include Winsted Church of Christ, Northfield Congregational Church in Litchfield and Beacon Falls Congregational Church.

John Evans, associate professor of sociology at University of California, San Diego, said that some people will leave over the issue, but it won't be enough to thin the church's ranks.

He said the number that leave could be balanced by gays and lesbians who join because of the issue.

"They've become identified as the most liberal denomination and are proud of it," Evans said. "You're making a conscious choice when your join a United Church congregation to be a liberal Protestant."

The Rev. Bud Precise, pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church in Birmingham, Ala., said his church sees accepting gay marriage as a way of opposing discrimination.

"I'm really excited about the stance of the United Church of Christ,"
Precise said. "I don't see how the church can do anything less. My congregation will be really pleased with that."

Precise said his church of about 90 members voted several years ago to accept anyone who wanted to attend. The church's membership includes several lesbian and gay couples, and Precise has performed commitment ceremonies in the church, he said.

The Rev. Kathryn Huey of Pilgrim Congregational UCC in Cleveland, a lesbian who has been in a committed relationship for nine years, attended the Atlanta meeting and expected an enthusiastic response to the gay-marriage decision from her 500-member congregation.

"It's going to grow the church," Huey said.