Quaker group stops certifying marriages until gay marriage legal

[ccharles000]

St. Paul, Minn. — A group of Twin Cities Quakers has decided to stop signing marriage certificates for opposite-sex couples until the state legalizes gay marriage.

"We're simply trying to be consistent with the will of God as we perceive it," said Paul Landskroener, clerk of the Twin Cities Friends Meeting, in an interview with MPR's All Things Considered on Monday.

The congregation will continue to hold both opposite-sex and same-sex weddings at its meeting house, but will no longer sign the legal marriage certificate for opposite-sex couples. Instead, couples will need to have the certificate signed by a justice of the peace.

"Everything else proceeds as it normally has, except that we will not sign the marriage certificate," Landskroener said.

Unlike many churches, Quakers do not have ordained ministers. Couples are married by appearing before the congregation and speaking their vows to each other. Several witnesses then sign the marriage certificate to pronounce the couple legally married.

The Twin Cities Friends Meeting reached its decision in November after three years of discussion. The group plans to revisit the decision in three years.

"The simplest way to say it is we feel very strongly and very clearly led that in the present time we simply cannot continue to participate in what we believe to be an unjust and inconsistent with our religious testimonies legal marriage procedure," Landskroener said.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/12/07/quaker-marriage/

[NanceGreggs]

1. THAT is so cool ...

... on so many levels.

:kick:

[David Zephyr]

2. There may actually be a few Christians in America after all.

I'll have to add these to my chalk board count.

[gateley]

8. Well said. nt

[NYC_SKP]

3. Bless them. K&R n/t

[sakabatou]

4. Go Quakers!

[ruggerson]

5. I love the Quakers

hard to believe Richard Nixon was one.

[derby378]

9. I don't think Nixon's Quakerism actually "took"

But then again, what do I know? I'm a Quaker who's also a Second Amendment activist. Guess how much soul-searching I had to go through to arrive where I am today.

That said, Twin Cities Friends have some steel in their spine, and I appreciate that greatly.

[laughingliberal]

6. God Bless Them! nt

[phasma ex machina]

7. Quakers also agitated to end slavery and helped run the Underground Railroad.

Two Quakers served as President: Hoover and Nixon. OTOH Smedley Butler was also a Quaker.

[eShirl]

11. Not to mention they make a mean bowl of oatmeal.

"It's the Quaker picker-upper."

[eShirl]

10. I heard of a Quaker couple who got married in care of the Meeting only, but not legally

They said they would get a marriage license only when gay couples could do the same.

This was almost a couple decades ago, btw.

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, ccharles.:thumbsup:

[Bjorn Against]

13. That is awesome, I used to go to that meeting house

I am not religious but I used to attend meetings at the same Quaker meeting house that this article refers to. They really are a great group of people and I may have to attend another meeting this coming Sunday, that meeting house is just about the only religious gathering place I have felt comfortable at in recent years and this decision demonstrates one reason why. The other big reason I felt welcome there is I am an agnostic and they are very accepting of people who do not necessarily believe in God.