Canada has become the fourth nation in the world to allow same sex marriages. Legislation supporting equal marriage rights was signed into law this week after years of debate. The law was vocally opposed by the Roman Catholic Church in Canada but supported by the United Church of Canada.

The United Church of Canada is the largest Protestant denomination in that nation. “The United Church was inaugurated on June 10, 1925 in Toronto, Ontario, when the Methodist Church, Canada, the Congregational Union of Canada, and 70 per cent of the Presbyterian Church in Canada entered into an organic union. Joining as well was the small General Council of Union Churches, centred largely in Western Canada. It was the first union of churches in the world to cross historical denominational lines and hence received international acclaim,” states their web site. Over 3 million people worship in United Church congregations.

It was in 2003 that the United Church first passed a resolution endorsing equal marriage rights. The United Church of Christ in the United States endorsed a similar resolution this summer at our General Synod.

Related Link:  Pastoral Letter Following the Passage of Same-Sex Marriage Legislation from The Right Rev. Dr. Peter Short, 38th Moderator of the United Church of Canada