wfn.org | UCC Same-Sex Marriage Letter to Parliament

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

The Moderator's letter to Members of Parliament and a United Church of
Canada letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

January 17, 2005

Dear Minister________________:

Please accept greetings from The United Church of Canada, and our gratitude
for your service to Canada through the work of Parliament. I am writing to
you because of the recently delivered Supreme Court opinion on marriage
legislation, and the prospect of an early introduction of such legislation
in the House. We wish you well and pray for you as you prepare for the
coming session.

	I want to contribute a perspective from the United Church to your
deliberations. Whether or not you agree with what I am setting before you,
I think you should be equipped with the knowledge that the General Council
of Canada's largest Protestant denomination welcomes equal marriage. I
believe that this decision has been reached not by abandoning Christian
faith, tradition, and values, but by implementing them. I write to you in
the hope that you will resist the assumption that anyone who speaks from
Christian faith, tradition, and values must be against equal marriage. Some
are, some aren't. This is true within the United Church, just as it is true
within Canadian society as a whole.

	The United Church has been deeply engaged with questions of same-sex
relationships for 20 years. In August 2003, its highest court asked the
Government of Canada to include same-sex marriage in marriage legislation.
I am attaching a copy of the letter to the Prime Minister outlining the
United Church's resolution.

	In some ways, The United Church of Canada is tracking a common path
with
the courts and the federal government. While our General Council indicated
its welcome of equal marriage, our polity upholds the freedom of each of
our congregations to follow its conscience. In the year and a half since
the Council's decision, many of our 3,000 congregations have been engaged
in the same discussion that is about to take place in the House: whether or
not to proceed with equal marriage. We know this conversation is difficult
for many of our congregations, just as it has been difficult in the public
sphere. In our own house we experience all the elements of this issue that
are familiar in Canadian society: a clear opinion from the highest court;
varied beliefs and expectations on the part of participants; freedom of
religion; discussion preceding emerging policy; and the price to be paid
for it.

	I want to put before you now a Christian perspective on faith,
tradition,
and values. I write of these precious things because I believe they ought
to be considered in making public decisions. I am aware of your
responsibilities toward a multicultural and multi-faith society, and so
what follows is not intended to be normative for all. It is specifically
and unapologetically of the Christian tradition, a tradition that runs
deeply in Canadian life and history.

	I understand faith to be a way of living. To have faith is to
implement a
vision in one's daily life; in this sense, all live by some faith or other.
Faith is not simply about the received doctrines. Doctrine is essential to
religious life but it is not the final arbiter, neither of our decisions
nor of our hope. After all, doctrines have been used to support slavery,
apartheid, and the exclusion of women.

	Some will protest that we must have faith in the Bible, and that the
Bible
takes an unfavourable view of intimate same-sex relationship. But I would
answer that Christian faith is not an uncritical repetition of a received
text. It is a mindful commitment to the power of love, to which the text
seeks to give witness. Every generation of the Christian faith must decide
how they will honour that demand of love in the living of their days.
Changing circumstances and changing ideas are not the enemy of faith.

	In fact, change is the only medium in which faithfulness can truly
become
faithfulness. Uncritical repetition is more like being on autopilot.

	Similarly, I understand tradition to be a living treasure. Tradition
is
not to be confused with habit, custom, or convention. These are simply
vessels that seek to hold the living tradition of God's presence in the
world. Habit, custom, and convention are not themselves the light; they
come to bear witness to the light. John's gospel says that the Word of God
became flesh in Jesus Christ. The Word became a living being, John writes,
not words. The Supreme Court follows this traditional wisdom when it
declares metaphorically that the constitution is a living tree. In
Christian tradition the measure by which we choose a course of action is
the measure of the love of Christ, a measure that judges even scripture. It
is never legitimate to use the words of scripture to promote a loveless agenda.

	Further, I understand value to be created by God, not by ancient
custom
nor by current fashion nor by general approval. God does not love because
human creatures have value. Rather, it is in loving human creatures that
God gives them value. Value is a gift-not a rule, not a partisan lever, and
certainly not a weapon. It is wrong to invoke the love of God in order that
one person's "values" might diminish another's value. Those who claim that
homosexual people threaten to dismantle the value of heterosexual marriage
would do well to remember that if anyone destroys marriage, it is married
people, not gays and lesbians.

	In the end, faith, tradition, and values do not decide for us. They
equip
us to take up the responsible and difficult task of deciding for ourselves.
This deciding is itself an act of faith. So we pray for one another, we
struggle to live in the love of Christ, and we take our step in humble
trust that the next generation will deal generously with us, knowing we did
our best with the vision of love God gave us for our day.

	For me, Christian faith, tradition, and values contribute to our hope
for
that day when earth once more is fair and all her children one, including
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people-all her children. The
General Council of The United Church of Canada believes that equal marriage
is a step on the path to justice, peace, and the common good. If prayer is
a part of your life, please pray that we may tread lightly, wisely,
lovingly, bravely, and faithfully.

	Thank you for your consideration of these thoughts, which are offered
in a
spirit of commitment to the good of Canada. Please consider attending a
breakfast I will be hosting on marriage on Thursday, February 24, on
Parliament Hill. In the meantime, I am attaching an essay on marriage I
wrote for The Globe and Mail, in the hope that you may find it useful.
Again, let me extend to you my prayers and the prayers of the church, as
you pursue the difficult path of putting into legislation the best hopes of
Canadians. May God bless you in your efforts and may your efforts be a
blessing.

Sincerely,

The Right Reverend Dr. Peter Short
Moderator
The United Church of Canada

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

January 17, 2005

The Right Hon. Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

On behalf of the General Council of The United Church of Canada, we write
to express our church's position regarding equal marriage.

The most recent gathering of the General Council, the national governing
body of the church, resolved to call upon the Government of Canada to
recognize same-sex civil marriages in federal marriage legislation (Record
of Proceedings, 2003). The General Council comprises some 350 members of
the church representing every region in Canada. The United Church is
Canada's largest Protestant denomination with more than three million
members and adherents in 3,500 congregations across Canada. The United
Church performs more than 15,000 marriages annually.

Beginning in 1984, the United Church affirmed our acceptance of all human
beings as persons made in the image of God regardless of sexual
orientation. Consequently, no distinction can be made in human rights on
the basis of sexual orientation. This was affirmed by the federal
government when sexual orientation was included in the Canadian Human
Rights Act in 1996. Within the church we affirmed that all persons who
profess faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of their sexual orientation, are
eligible to be considered for ordered ministry in 1988. And in 1992, the
church mandated that liturgical and pastoral resources be made available to
congregations for same-sex covenants. Recent United Church resources for
marriage preparation make no distinction between heterosexuals and homosexuals.

As a Protestant denomination, the United Church does not regard marriage as
a sacrament. Procreation is not a defining dynamic of marriage in the
United Church. Nevertheless, the church places an extremely high value on
the seriousness of vows taken before God and in the presence of witnesses.
The church urges congregations to help couples to prepare for a life
together and offers counselling and enrichment courses.

A significant and unique contribution that the United Church brings to the
issue of equal marriage is the denomination's own experience of making
same-sex marriage ceremonies available to its congregations and, at the
same time, respecting the right of those within the denomination who do not
wish to offer such services. The United Church unequivocally supports the
rights of same-sex couples to have access to civil marriage; it also
unequivocally supports the right of communities of faith to decline to
perform such marriages.

Currently, equal marriage is only available in parts of Canada, impinging
on the religious freedom of United Church congregations that do wish to
perform same-sex marriages and have them recognized in civil law. We
appreciate the federal government's support for equal marriage for all
Canadians and intention to address the current anomaly as soon as possible.
The United Church of Canada requests the Government of Canada to recognize
same-sex civil marriages in federal marriage legislation.

Peace,

Jackie Harper

Family Ministries	Peace,

Choice Okoro
Human Rights and Reconciliation Initiatives

cc. The Hon. Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice
The Hon. Stephen Harper, Leader of the Opposition and the Conservative Party
Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Québécois
Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party