It's the First Church's 375th Anniversary!

Come celebrate the founding of the First Church in 1629!

Events

08/08/04
Sunday Anniversary Service
See Calendar

09/26/04
Sunday Celebration & Picnic at Winter Island, Salem
See Calendar

Summer Schedule
In July, The First Church in Salem, Unitarian, is CLOSED. Services will be held at our sister church, the First Universalist Church, at 211 Bridge Street. Services resume here at The First Church in August. See Calendar

Ministry Musings Archive - August 2004

The number of people without health insurance in this country is 44 million (and growing) - and the last month has seen people across the nation preoccupied with whether or not two people of the same sex should be allowed to get married. Each day, a few more soldiers are killed in Iraq and their coffins are not shown arriving at Andrews Air force Base per order of the Whitehouse—and yet we as a nation are worried about the social effects of two people wanting to make a life long commitment to one another under the law. A report came out this week that documents how easy it is to make a crude nuclear weapon based on the purchase of legally available materials - and people in our country are worried about the ill effects of two men or two women wanting their relationship to be recognized legally. Corporations are piled into the halls of Congress attempting (and sometimes succeeding) in influencing legislation (and sometimes even writing it!) and yet we don’t worry about protecting our Union from that sort of corrosive activity—rather we wish to denounce the reality of two people of the same sex wishing to make a binding vow to one another out of love. In part because of huge tax breaks to the wealthiest 1% in this country, our national debt is skyrocketing to unprecedented levels thus clouding the our long term economic prospects - and yet what Americans are really upset about is the issue of gay marriage.

There are problems that affect all of us living in this country. There are issues about which all of us as citizens of this country should be genuinely concerned –regardless of where you might be on the political spectrum. It is my firm belief that gay marriage is not one of them. I fail to see what harm is caused by recognizing a relationship between two people in the eyes of the law. I fail to see how this contributes to the moral decay in this country. If you want to identify factors that contribute to social problems in this country, look to the high divorce rate, consider the widening gap between the rich and the poor—but not gay marriage. The way I see it, society only benefits when two people come together and make a solemn, life-long commitment to one another. Such social relationships contribute to the strength of our society.

I know people object to gay marriage on religious grounds, pointing to the Bible as their justification. They should be careful. The ancient laws about marriage (such as a man being allowed to have MORE than one wife—Gen. 29:17-28) are just that—ancient. The Bible is not a rule book. It is a record of a particular people’s progressive experience of the divine. God is increasingly revealed as wanting justice and being loving. Thus, I can’t believe that the Divine somehow thinks it deplorable when two people—any two people—wish to commit to one another out of love in His (or Her) presence. If anything I would think that would make God smile.

On Monday, May 17, gay marriage became legal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In preparation for this event, the First Church in Salem voted during its Annual Meeting to permit the Minister (yours truly) to officiate at same-sex weddings in our Meetinghouse. The vote was 47 to 3, the result of a written ballot. I was very proud of our church and the series of conversations and arguments that led to this decisive vote. While I know that a diversity of opinion exists in our congregation about gay marriage, I was glad and heartened to see our church responding to the law of the land affirmatively. I have already officiated at a same-sex wedding here at the church. It was a small, lovely and remarkably typical wedding service. Another two people got married. I wish them well.

There can be no doubt that we live during challenging and exhilarating times. The possibilities for creating a better world have never been so many even as the dangers we face as a world community seem to multiply. I hope and pray that all of us in this country will focus on those things that truly affect our lives.