The Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena, Calif., has announced that parish clergy will refrain from performing civil marriages until homosexual couples can legally wed. The new policy is effective immediately and parish clergy will be encouraging other clergy to do likewise, he added.

“At the heart of Jesus’ moral vision and All Saints’ historic mission is respecting the dignity of every human being,” he said in a June 3 press release. “Denying fundamental rights to a certain classification of humanity is blatant discrimination with which our governing board, the other clergy of All Saints and I will not participate. We invite other clergy and congregations to join us in this stand for marriage equality.”

Recently the California State Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. A resolution approved by the church’s vestry June 2 declared that “the sacramental right of marriage is available to all couples, but that the clergy of All Saints Church will not sign civil marriage certificates so long as the right to marry is denied to same-sex couples.”

Episcopal News Service contributed to this report.

 

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