From the Houston Chronicle posting of a New York Times story:
Some clergy members in California spent Tuesday officiating at same-sex weddings made legal by a state Supreme Court ruling that took effect on Monday night. Others spent the day speaking out against same-sex marriage.
And there were those who spent the day in anguish, torn between the laws of their state and the laws of their church.
The Rev. Kimberly A. Willis said she had not decided what to do because she wanted to be able to minister to all of her congregants at Christ Church United Methodist, in Santa Rosa, about 10 percent of whom are gay. But if she officiates at a same-sex wedding, she could be charged with violating the United Methodists' Book of Discipline, put on trial and defrocked.
So Willis spent Sunday on the sidelines at a religious service in which several same-sex couples were celebrating their imminent marriages. Willis spied a gay couple in the front row who attend her church, and said she felt outraged that she could not join the other ministers leading the ceremony to bless them.
Willis said, "I can bless a car, and I have. I've been asked to bless animals, children, homes, bread, grape juice, but I can't bless a gay and lesbian couple. That's unreal to me."
The article goes into further depth on the turmoil within denominations, congregations, and individuals' consciences. You can read the rest of it here.
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