St Mary’s Cathedral has been able to marry same-sex couples since 2017, following the vote in General Synod 2017 which allowed clergy in the Scottish Episcopal Church to be nominated to conduct such weddings.
As a same-sex couple, can we get married in St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow?
Yes – General Synod voted in June 2017 to allow clergy in the Scottish Episcopal clergy to be nominated to be able to conduct the marriages of same-sex couples. Not all Scottish Episcopal Church clergy will be nominated for this but there are such clergy at St Mary’s. Members of St Mary’s campaigned for this to be able to happen.
Can we exchange rings in church?
Yes – of course. It’s a wedding.
Can we make vows to one another in church?
Yes – of course. It’s a wedding.
Bells? Choir? Organ? Photographs?
Yes – of course, on the same terms as for any other wedding.
Can we get married in Scotland if we live in England?
Yes – of course, lots of couples do.
What order of service can we use?
We use the Scottish Liturgy (2007) which has a lot of options that allow each couple getting married to personalise the service so that it matches who they are and says what they want to say.
Could we have our Civil Partnership or our Marriage blessed in St Mary’s?
Yes – clergy in the Scottish Episcopal Church can bless a same-sex couple at the time of them registering a Civil Partnership or after entering into a marriage that has been conducted elsewhere.
So could we register a Civil Partnership in St Mary’s?
The Scottish Episcopal Church has not chosen to allow Civil Partnerships to be registered in its churches. If you want a Civil Partnership then you need to have that conducted by a registrar and it can’t take place in a Scottish Episcopal Church. You could come to church after a Civil Partnership and have a blessing if you wanted to.
How long have you been doing this kind of thing?
The first public same-sex blessing that we know about in St Mary’s was conducted in 2008. However, the clergy here have been supportive of gay couples for decades and it would be surprising if a blessing of some kind or another had not been offered before then. The Scottish Episcopal Church decided in June 2017 to allow same-sex couples to get married in church.
What does the rest of the church think about same-sex couples being married?
The Christian Churches have divided views about same-sex couples getting married as they do about lots of things.
Doesn’t the Bible have bad things to say about gay couples?
The Bible has a lot to say about a lot of things and the clergy and others in the congregation will be happy to chat more about how we understand the Bible in relation to same-sex couples. There is an LGBT network within the congregation. We believe that gay people and straight people are equally blessed and loved by God and that the Bible teaches us that this is so.
It is a gay church then?
St Mary’s is a church working to be open, inclusive and welcoming. We don’t think that God’s love is limited – straight people are loved by God just as much as gay and lesbian people are loved by God.
Who do I talk to about this?
Speak to a member of the clergy whom you can contact via the Cathedral Office.