Clergy consider surrendering marriage licences
BARRIE, ON-Todd Dugard thinks it's time Christian clergy got out of the marriage business. It's not that the pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Barrie, Ontario, doesn't think marriage is important, but that it's time ministers stopped being "agents of the government" when it comes to civil marriage ceremonies.
What drives Dugard's conviction is the recent court ruling in Ontario allowing same-sex marriages. Last month, Ontario became the first province to sanction such unions after its Appeal Court ruled the existing law unconstitutional and struck down the traditional definition of marriage as a union between man and woman, thus opening the way for same-sex partners to wed.
B.C.'s Court of Appeal subsequently lifted a one-year moratorium on same-sex marriages.
The federal government announced it will not appeal the judgment and is drafting a new law, which would change the definition from "a man and a woman" to "two persons."
While the government has promised to protect the right of religious groups to determine whom they will or will not marry, Dugard believes ministers won't have a choice on the matter.
Radical solution
That's why Dugard, who is licensed under the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada to perform marriages, has begun discussing with other pastors a radical solution to this dilemma.
Dugard is suggesting that Christian ministers should consider refusing to perform the "civil" part of a typical marriage ceremony, which includes the pronouncing a couple married by the power of the state and signing the marriage registration.
Instead, he believes couples should be asked to obtain a marriage licence from City Hall and arrange for a Justice of the Peace to perform a civil ceremony. Only after that should couples come to church to take part in a purely religious ceremony.
Furthermore, Dugard is also considering giving up his marriage licence so that he would be free to refuse to marry same-sex couples without incurring the wrath of government authorities that issue such licences.
Pastor Norm Millar of SouthWest Community Church in London, Ontario, agrees with Dugard that clergy need to do something to protect themselves in the new environment.
"The homosexual movement will approach churches for same-sex marriages and, if they refuse, I believe they will start suing churches," says Millar.
Millar is already putting into practice Todd Dugard's proposed model for religious ceremonies. As the head of a non-denominational church, Millar has not been required to obtain a marriage licence to hold his position at his church.
Couples who want him to marry them obtain a marriage licence and are then referred to either a local company licensed to do civil ceremonies or a retired Christian judge before coming back to the church for a religious ceremony.
Alternatively, Millar has had a licensed minister officiate over the civil part of the marriage whenever he's officiated at marriage ceremonies in his church.
Laurie Arron, chair of the Equal Marriage Committee for gay rights lobby group Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE), isn't surprised church leaders are trying to circumvent the court ruling. He particularly dismisses the efforts by a coalition of faith-based organizations to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to review the Ontario court's ruling.
"I see it as an act of desperation doomed to failure. It has no legal foundation," says Arron. "Equal marriage for same-sex couples is here to stay. The train has left the station."
Regardless of whether or not ministers will be able to "opt out" of civil ceremonies, both Dugard and Millar believe the time has come for the church to rethink its views on what a marriage ceremony is.
"I don't think that the theology of a marriage needs to be revisited. What we need to do is rethink what a 'Christian marriage' is," says Millar. "I think it's a biblical commitment before family and friends."
Meanwhile, the board of elders at Dugard's church will be meeting in August to discuss whether he should give up his marriage licence to be free to refuse to marry couples who don't adhere to church beliefs, including those involving homosexuality.
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