Kitchener minister's decision will depend on congregation's approval
Mirko Petricevic, Kitchener/Waterloo The Record (Nov 23, 2006)
A Kitchener pastor says he's willing to conduct same-sex marriages --without his bishop's approval -- if he gets the go-ahead from parishioners.
"For me it's very much a justice issue," Rev. Frank Haggarty, senior pastor at St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kitchener, said yesterday. "It's very much a pastoral issue."
His comments come a few days after Rev. Michael Pryse, bishop of the Kitchener-based Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, issued a letter asking pastors to be prudent and refrain from moving forward with blessing same-sex relationships.
Pryse issued his letter Saturday after a meeting of the Eastern Synod Council, whose members discussed its dispute with the national church over whether to let congregations decide on allowing pastors to bless the relationships of homosexual couples.
So far the issue, dubbed the "local option," has been about blessing unions -- not conducting marriages.
Haggarty is willing to go further. "If the people of this congregation said we should move forward . . . then we will," he said.
During an Eastern Synod convention in Waterloo in July, delegates approved the local option.
Opponents argued a similar motion was voted down at a national convention only last year.
The issue will return to the church's national convention next summer.
Two men from Haggarty's congregation -- one of the largest Evangelical Lutheran churches in Canada -- recently asked him to officiate at their wedding. Haggarty was already booked, but he expects more requests.
He plans to approach the congregation's board of directors and parishioners for a vote. If two-thirds approve, Haggarty said, he will talk to Pryse but not for approval. "I love our bishop," he said.
"I would go to hell and back for him. But I would not seek his permission for this."
Pryse said he would try to dissuade pastors from performing the blessings because actions by individuals have implications for others in the church. "There's wisdom in not acting at this point."
The church's national council has urged that anyone breaching the ban on blessings be dealt with using the least severe forms of discipline -- not suspension or dismissal, Pryse said.
"I don't think anyone sees that it's in the better interest of the church to be using harsh forms of discipline on a matter where there is clearly such great division."
Rosalynn Tubbe said "it's a free-for-all" when pastors and synods defy the national church.
Tubbe, of Kitchener, is a member of Solid Ground, a group of Evangelical Lutherans that opposes blessing same-gender relationships. "People who advocate for blessing of same-sex unions are trying to push the church in a dangerous direction too quickly," she said. "The church needs to have more time for very open study and discussion."
Tubbe pointed out that the church's new social statement on human sexuality won't be ready until at least 2009.
mpetricevic@therecord.com
