Gay-union debate intensifies in churches

Methodist policies prohibit unions and ordination, and in 2000 the denomination voted against change. "The policies we have now were just put in place in 1996, and are a backlash to the culture moving ahead," Ms. Laurie says. Her group seeks to modify the language of "incompatibility" to win acknowledgment that differing views exist among Methodists of good faith.

Lutherans have a tradition but no explicit policies on unions or ordination, says Dr. Childs. To avoid a divisive battle, the ELCA began a four-year effort to engage congregations in discussions, reviewing biblical and church teachings, scientific research, the ways people make ethical choices, and the impact of decisions on the church's mission.

A task force prepared study materials and will report findings and recommendations in 2005. The shift in the culture will play out in the discussions, he says. "There may be a need to recognize the reality and legitimacy of same-sex companionships without making it the equivalent of marriage, to guard the priority of heterosexuality in the biblical account of creation."

At the same time, ELCA's National Lutheran Youth Organization has just adopted a resolution in support of same-sex unions and gay ordination.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has taken a slightly bolder stance. While rejecting gay ordination, it voted to allow "holy unions" as long as they differed from weddings. Unions are being performed. But in at least one church, Calvary Presbyterian in San Francisco, the Rev. Laird Stuart says no one has yet requested a ceremony. When he asked a gay member in a long-term relationship about it, the man said: "We know the controversy it would cause and we don't want that, but in our hearts we are married."

A few pastors, however, are taking a stand beyond denominational strictures. In June, a Presbyterian minister in Cincinnati was defrocked for performing a same-sex marriage ceremony. The Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken said he acted on the "desire to be open and honest. We cannot hide the fact that when we do same-sex ceremonies, all the parties involved ... understand that we are celebrating Christian marriage."

This is part of the dilemma facing churches, courts, and legislatures as they try to sort out the legal and desirable forms domestic partnerships should take in the 21st century.

A Pew Research Center poll of Americans released last week shows that the opposition to gay marriage dropped over the past seven years from 65 percent to 53 percent. All religious groups except evangelicals showed a steep decline. Other surveys, however, have shown a slight upturn in opposition to gay marriages since the Supreme Court decision.

It's clear that both sides see this issue as something well worth fighting for - equal rights vs. a 2,000-year-plus tradition with biblical meaning and societal import. It's a battle likely to play out over many years.

In Canada, courts which recently termed the prohibition of gay marriage unconstitutional also said the country should properly deal with the issue through legislation. Some Americans, too, worry about the consequences of change through judicial decisionmaking.

"When there isn't ample democratic ventilation, there's a danger of precipitous backlash," says John Witte Jr., an expert on law, religion, and marriage at Emory University in Atlanta. "Some would argue that's one reason for the continued cultural fallout over Roe v. Wade. I fear something akin to that might occur as a reaction ... in dealing with same-sex unions and marriages."

If the changes come about by statute, then it would be a matter for the civil realm, and religious bodies would be free to opt out, he says. But if it becomes a constitutional question, then it's much more likely churches who refused to perform marriages could be seen as discriminatory.

"In some sense, what is eventually going to emerge is a collision between religious liberty and sexual liberty," he says.

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