A Church of England minister in London says he “absolutely” would conduct a gay marriage if he was legally allowed to.
Andrew Cain, who has two church halls registered to perform civil partnerships, says the Church’s legal bar on carrying out same-sex weddings is unacceptable.
“I’m very proud of being Church of England. They’ve just made a terrible mistake”, he said.
Redefine
In June last year nine Church of England bishops voted against the Bill to redefine marriage, but it was passed and will come into effect in March this year.
Cain commented: “During the debate in England, Anglican bishops made a terrible fuss and said that marriage is between a man and a woman.
“As a result, when the Government introduced the law, they took them at their words and excluded the Church of England.
‘Embarrassing’
“But those who were in favour found themselves in a situation where we’ve been legally excluded from performing the ceremony.
“It was just deeply embarrassing for the church – it’s no longer acceptable”, he commented.
“I absolutely would conduct a ceremony but legally I cannot”, he said.
Recreated
The minister has put up “Keep Calm And Support Equal Marriage” posters in his churches in West Hampstead and Kilburn.
He claimed that the Church would change its stance in the future.
In June last year Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warned that marriage would be “abolished, redefined and recreated” under the Government’s same-sex marriage plans.
Speaking in the House of Lords Archbishop Welby warned that “confusion” was being created, with fundamental aspects of marriage being “lost”, “diminished” or “weakened”.
In November 2013 a Church of England report recommended that gay unions should be marked by special church services as an act of worship.