"Faith Matters" Blog
Celebrating love in whatever form it takes
 | | Parish Minister Rev. Mary Katherine Morn |
When I lived in Georgia, I had a television reporter ask me once if I was afraid I might be arrested for performing marriages for same sex couples. I responded with some principled statement about the rights of loving couples and my commitment to supporting families. What I wish I'd said is something like: "I wish they would arrest me."
I am so frustrated by the religious right crying foul on the grounds of religious liberty. My rights as a duly ordained religious leader are being stomped all over by laws that restrict marriage.
Our congregation has affirmed the rights of all couples to the blessing of our community in a marriage ceremony. The state asks me to be an officiant for couples who wish to be married and to authorize the legal documents certifying what I have done. The state gives me this authority, to pronounce a couple married, recognizing my standing within Unitarian Universalism and the congregation I serve. Except when they don't.
This is an infringement of religious liberty. The sole grounds for defining marriage as a commitment only between a man and a woman is religious. While I disagree with this position, I do not want to tell any religious community how they must define marriage. (Or even how to interpret scripture - though, as Laura strongly argued this weekend, the widely accepted interpretations on this point are questionable at best.)
This weekend we are hosting a conference on what it means for religious communities to welcome gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people. The Unitarian Universalist Association, People of Faith for Equality in Virginia and a number of northern Virginia congregations have joined us in offering this opportunity to address some of the issues that arise for progressive congregations as they make a commitment to inclusion.
I hope you will join us for some or all of this important event. For a sneak peak at our Saturday night keynote speaker, Zach Wahls, you can listen to his testimony before the Iowa House of Representatives in 2011.
My hope is that events like this one will help us create a world where every person's dignity and worth are affirmed and love is celebrated in whatever form it takes.
I hope to see you there.
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Growing appeal of Unitarian Universalism
Denomination grew by almost
16% from 2000-2010
 This will not be a huge surprise to anyone in this congregation, but UUism is growing. If you missed the recent "USA Today" article on the growing appeal of Unitarian Universalism, we're providing a link here. You might also want to read a response article by Martin Marty, of the University of Chicago Divinity School, as well as a response to that response by Buddhist priest and UU minister Robert Ishmael Ford.
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