Churches, others grapple with same-sex marriage ruling

NEWARK – While members of the LGBT community and their supporters celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn bans on same-sex marriage, others were shaking their heads.

Local religious leaders are speaking out about the decision and what it means for their congregations.

Pew Research Center compiles a list of where churches stand on the issue. Some sanction same sex marriage, such as the Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and the Conservative and Reformist Jewish movements. Others provide no clear position on the matter, including those embracing Buddhism and Hinduism.

But there are many more religions that do not support same-sex marriages. American Baptist Churches, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Islam, the Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Jewish Movement, the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church all explicitly prohibit such unions.

Jeff Gill, pastor of Central Christian Church in Newark, approached the elders of the church about three months ago, warning them that Supreme Court action on same-sex marriage in the state was imminent.

Many of them didn’t see it coming. So when the decision was handed down and same-sex marriage became the law of the land, it put them and other area religious leaders in a tough place. The law is telling them one thing, but their beliefs another.

“We’re engaged in a conversation as to ‘what does this mean’ and ‘what do we as a congregation mean by marriage.’ It’s felt so obvious to most of us for so long that we’ve quit talking about it and we probably had plenty of reason to be thinking and talking about this earlier,” Gill said.

“It’s not a conversation we have had lately, so a lot of us, I suspect, are going back to basics,” he said. “Before we react in any one direction, we need to try our best to get everyone on the same page. What do we believe? What do we teach? And how do we practice?”

For the Catholic Church, the answer is simple. When asked for comment, a representative of the Columbus Diocese forwarded The Advocate a news release issued last Friday by the the Catholic Conference of Ohio. In its statement, the conference expressed its disappointment in the Supreme Court’s decision and promised to continue to defend its belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.

The statement calls traditional marriage the cradle of the family, which the conference states is the basic block of society.

“The Catholic Church remains steadfast in its commitment to promote and defend marriage: defined as the union of one man and one woman,” the statement says. “With renewed hope, sensitivity, and compassion, the Church will continue to attend to the challenges and hardships that confront individuals and their families, and to treat all persons with the dignity and respect due to them as children of God.”

Monica Stanley, who attends Blessed Sacrament Church, also was disappointed to hear the Supreme Court’s decision. Her disappointment has nothing to do with homosexuality, she said, but rather with the notion of religious freedom.

“My faith teaches me that the church draws a line, where this is the family and this is the family plan God has designed for you, and that goes way beyond homosexuality,” Stanley said.

That plan includes everything from premarital sex to abortion to birth control. All of those factor in to the natural family planning God intended, Stanley said, and the church’s teachings on them should be followed.

Many people believe the church hates homosexuality on principle, but that is not the case, Stanley said.

“In the eyes of the church, this is all completely out of love for God’s plan,” she said. “God’s initial plan for married life was for man and woman, and that plan included being open to life. That needs to continue.”

emaddern@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @emmaddern