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Your wedding day is a very special occasion indeed for you and your friends and family It is a time of great rejoicing as well as of solemn commitment in the sight of God.

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In the bible, we read that Jesus himself was once a wedding guest as he gave to us a sign of new beginnings.

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By getting married, a relationship is blessed by God as he enables husband and wife to love and support one another, through the good times and the bad.

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​According to the Gospel of John, Jesus and his disciples attended a wedding in Cana, Galilee. In the story, Jesus' mother notices that the wine has run out and asks Jesus to provide more. Jesus then turns water into wine to demonstrate his divinity

Quick Notes about Scripture and Homosexuality by:

The Revd. Fr Mark Paris-Haines (Dip In Religious Studies)

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But Father the Bible says....... No it does not, nowhere in Scripture is reference made to the condition of homosexuality, only to homosexual act's

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But Father are you not trying to wriggle out of what the Bible clearly says about homosexuality:? No why do you say that? What the Bible says about anything is selective, contradictory, and liable to change in interpretation. Now what we have to understand here is that People do not believe in What the Bible Says. People believe in traditions about what the Bible says.

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Father please explain: OK, Judeo-Christians tradition certainly is homophobic, but what we need to research here is that are the words of Jesus Homophobic? The various Christian theological traditions from one and other they cannot be identical with the words of Jesus. Now the believer must decide whether the words of Jesus are more important than Christian traditions (Don't you agree?) Arguing out Christian traditions is circular.

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But Father the Bible tells us the story about Sodom (Genesis19)... Now many people talk to me about this a lot, lets look into this together. Now in the book of Genesis (Chapter 19) the story is told of two visitors to the City of Sodom, who were in fact angles in disguise and they were visiting the house of Lot,

The story goes: Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the City of Sodom both young and old surrounded the house. They called out to Lot where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind them saying: no. my friends, don't do this wicked thing Now after this believe it or not, Lot offers his daughters to appease the crowd, so the story continues until eventually the angels step in and manage to defeat the mob. Later on in the story, Sodom is destroyed, at this point people try to tell me it was destroyed because of homosexuality, well they are wrong!, it was destroyed because of the actions of the inhabitants of the City. The story about the destruction of Sodom is not about homosexuality . It is about the sin of breaching sacred hospitality. Therefore my friend it can be argued from the Bible itself that the destruction of Sodom was because of oppression of the poor and mistreatment of outsiders; nothing to do with lesbians and gays. Feminist theologians will also want to question Lot's apparent willingness to hand his daughters over to the crowd to face certain death. To claim that trying to commit gang rape on strangers is equivalent to consenting gay and lesbian sex is to fly in the face of what the Bible itself says.

Father explain this, Leviticus Chapter 18 v 22 and Chapter 20 v 13. The Old Testament prohibitions: OK, the Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality in the Books of Leviticus (Chapter 18, v 22, Chapter 20 v. 13) and Deuteronomy are essentially provisions of the Jewish Law. Those Christians who base their disapproval of homosexuality on them must be prepared to state whether or not they are prepared to keep the other provisions of the Jewish Law. What are you talking about, Father explain this: OK, let me explain it this way for you, the book of Leviticus in the Bible is concerned with giving huge chunks of the Law; observed today by Orthodox Jews. It is concerned with stating what behaviour and moral codes separate out the Jewish people from the surrounding nations and is very clear in prohibiting behaviour which was part of the worship of fertility gods and goddesses. Now the passage you refer to is: Do not lie with a man as with a woman; that is detestable (18:22) and if a man lies with a man as one lies with a women, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own hands. Now this is very interesting, the question around this text for us today. Firstly there are very few Christians who take this part of the Bible seriously. Now if we are to obey these two passages then we should obey all the book (Yes!) this includes and condemns: cutting mens hair, eating meat with blood in it (e.g. Rare Steak), eating rabbit or certain kinds of sea food like mussels or shell fish, sexual intercourse during menstruation, cross breeding cattle, and (this is the best one) wearing garments made out of more than one material. (Now I bet your sat there with your clothes made out of more than one material?) So my point is if people who condemn us are not happy to follow the above Laws then there is no reason why we can not be happy being Lesbian or Gay.

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OK what about Ruth and Naomi, David and Jonathan, Jesus and the Beloved Disciple this is not a gay relationship: These friendships, as described in Scripture, are not gay relationships you are correct. The first two friendships are about the righteousness of choosing those who are elected by God., namely, the Hebrew nation in the case of Ruth, and David in the case of Jonathan. The friendship between Jesus and the Beloved Disciple is a symbol of true faith and discipleship.

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Father, could you please explain about the Centurions Servant, because this is not about a gay relationship: I don't agree with you there, this is one story in which a gay relationship may be mentioned. This is because the word used in Greek in the account given by Luke can mean boyfriend, now we know that centurions and their personal servants often had sexual relations and it is stated that the centurion was very fond of the servant. If this story does mention a gay relationship, then it confirms that Jesus was less interested in what people did rather than in their faith and love.

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Father, so what's your conclusion regarding the Bible and Homosexuality? OK my friend, to say that the Bible condemns Lesbians and gays is misleading, it is clear that the phrase the Bible says is not a sufficient argument for anything. We need to develop, what feminist theologians call, an interpretation of suspicion that questions how texts either affirm or condemn women, lesbians, gays and other minorities. Now if they are condemning then they are not, and cannot be, words from a God of love. Homosexuality is not a new thing within the church, in the eighteenth century in London there existed "molly houses," pubs where gay men gathered to sing and dance and have a good time, and make assignations with one another. In some of these molly houses, there were "Marrying Rooms" and "Chapels" in which the men sometimes went to be "married" or "wedded"; often this merely consisted of them having sex together, sometimes in full sight of the company in the other large room of the tavern. There were also semi-formal bondings, and we know of at least half a dozen male couples who lived together for long periods, often years, including male couples who operated their own molly houses. But as far as I can discover, no duly ordained minister officiated at these ceremonies until the early nineteenth century, when the Reverend John Church appeared upon the molly circuit and began celebrating the first gay rites of Holy Matrimony.

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If you choose to partnership within the OCAC church, it will be a day that is personal and special for you, but that does not mean you spend a fortune. - within the town of Swindon our community priest will officiate your service FREE of charge, Please see below for charges that may occur if required.​

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> Certificate of Marriage Vows (not a legal certificate of solemnisation) £15.00 (donation)

> Wedding Candles £22.00 each (donation)

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