Same-sex couples could marry in United church
WHILE most local churches will not be holding same-sex marriages if the new law is ratified by the States, there is one church in the island where such ceremonies might take place.
The States will be asked to approve the Same-Sex Marriage Law at its meeting on 26 April. If accepted, the law will take effect on 2 May.
While different Christian denominations have already said they will not hold same-sex wedding ceremonies when the law comes in, the United Reformed Church could do so.
The URC's General Assembly voted in 2012 to allow the blessing of same-sex civil partnerships and last year it voted to allow its churches to conduct same-sex marriages.
'Decisions about whether to allow the marriage of same-sex couples would be made by individual congregations, within the different legal systems of parts of the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies,' said URC Wessex Synod moderator the Rev. Clare Downing.
'With the impending legal changes in Guernsey, our church in St Saviour's will, along with churches in England and Wales, be able to decide on whether to ask for its building to be registered for the celebration of same-sex marriages.'
The Zen Buddhist Group, although it cannot legally marry people, said it could perform marriage ceremonies for both same-sex and different-sex couples if they obtained wished after obtaining a marriage certificate at the Greffe.
