D.C. Baptists Voice Support For Same-Sex Marriage

Earlier this week, Washington D.C.’s City Council voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia by a vote of 11-2.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty plans to sign the marriage bill at a church.  Rumor was that the D.C. Mayor planned to sign the bill at Covenant Baptist Church, a predominantly African-American congregation co-pastored by Christine and Dennis Wiley.  Covenant Baptist is a former Southern Baptist church that is now affiliated with the District of Columbia Baptist Convention, the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA.  Dennis Wiley is co-chair of DC’s Clergy United for Marriage Equality.

However, apparently Mayor Adrian Fenty will now hold the signing ceremony at All Souls Unitarian Church which has been quite active in the effort to legalize same-sex marriage in the District.

The Rev. Robert Hardies of All Souls Unitarian (the other co-chair of Clergy United for Marriage Equality) has notd that Mayor Fenty’s decision to sign the D.C. bill in a church was telling:

“This is symbolic of the strong religious support for this bill in D.C.,” [Hardies] said, noting that more than 100 clergy members had signed a declaration in support of same-sex marriage.

The marriage bill does appear to have a great deal of support from D.C. religious community.  Here is the Declaration authored by Clergy United for Marriage Equality mentioned above:

We are District of Columbia clergy and religious leaders of many faiths, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. We represent religious institutions in every ward in the District. We have worked together over many years for peace and justice and now join our voices again to speak a faithful word for freedom and equality.

We declare that our faith calls us to affirm marriage equality for loving same-sex couples.

Our religious traditions and scriptures teach us that wherever love is present, God is also present. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is our human capacity to love one another. The ability of two people to enter into relationships and form families of love and care is one expression of this gift. It is holy and good. We therefore affirm the right of loving same-gender couples to enter into such relationships on an equal basis with loving heterosexual couples.

We recognize that there are principled differences on this issue within the religious community. We affirm that the state should not require any religious group to officiate at, or bless, same-gender marriages. However, the state also should not favor the convictions of one religious group over another by denying individuals their fundamental civil right to marry whom they love.

Recognizing that there is heartfelt disagreement on this issue, we call on all people of the District of Columbia to engage in a respectful and loving dialogue on marriage equality. As religious leaders, we commit ourselves to such a dialogue and encourage our colleagues on all sides of this issue to do the same.

God is love and love is for everyone. In this spirit we raise our voices in the struggle for the right and freedom to marry.

Baptist signatories include:

The Rev. Amy Butler, Calvary Baptist Church (Member of Clergy United Steering Committee)
The Rev. Leah Grundset, Calvary Baptist Church
The Rev. Eric Bebber, Calvary Baptist Church
The Rev. Edgar Palacios, Calvary Baptist Church
The Rev. Mary Andreolli, Alliance of Baptists
The Rev. Stan Hastey, Alliance of Baptists
The Rev. Michael Bledsoe, Riverside Baptist Church
The Rev. Ben Boswell, Commonwealth Baptist Church
The Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins, Nineteenth Street Baptist Church
The Rev. Diane Brenda Williams, Baptist
The Rev. Elizabeth F. Bebber, Baptist minister
The Rev. Christine Y. Wiley, Covenant Baptist Church
The Rev. Dennis W. Wiley, Covenant Baptist Church
The Rev. Donelda A. Cook, Covenant Baptist Church
The Rev. Kenneth H. King, Covenant Baptist Church
The Rev. Howard W. Wiley, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. Eunesa Benoman, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. John-Anthony Burchall, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. Debra L. Camphor, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. Michael R. Fisher, Jr., Covenant Baptist Church
Min. Teresa A. Gilchrist, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. D. K. Kirkley-Cain, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. Robert A. Renix, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. Aaron Wade, Covenant Baptist Church
Min. Kelly D. Wilkins, Covenant Baptist Church

I’m sure most readers will recognize at least a few of these signatories.