May Love and Justice Increase: Rituals for Same-Sex Ceremonies

When two people find one another as lifetime companions, they usually want to gather family, friends, and colleagues to celebrate their good fortune and support their relationship.  For some, their life partner is the same sex, for others it is the opposite sex.  In public ritual two people promise to love as equal partners, cherish and respect one another, nurture one another’s personal and spiritual growth, create community together, and work for a more just and loving church and society.
 
“Will we or will we not marry?” is a question couples of the same sex now ask themselves.  Of course, the situations vary.  Some countries like Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, and Spain allow same-sex marriage.  In the United States the question is very much in dispute.  Feminist theological responses to the question “to marry or not” vary.

In the midst of this kind of debate it is useful to look at the content of the rituals people are creating to express their commitments.  I propose to describe and comment on the same-sex ceremonies three couples have created and celebrated. In doing so, I hope to document and stretch imaginations so that others can create same-sex ceremonies as a matter of justice during cultural change.