Oregon voters will be asked to consider marriage equality in 2014 - and this time people of faith will be leading the charge.

This morning Oregon United for Marriage launched a campaign to qualify a measure to make marriage equality the law of the land.  A packed church hall was the site of a diverse faith leaders breakfast where clergy and others became some of the first to sign the petetion.

"As religious leaders, we stand in solidarity with Oregon United for Marriage," said the Rev. Tara Wilkins, pastor of Bridgeport United Church of Christ and executive director of the Community of Welcoming Congregations. "Many of our religious traditions support the freedom to marry, and we believe the time is now to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry in Oregon." Rev. Wilkins notes that the proposed initiative protects religious freedom, and no religious community will be forced to marry same-sex couples. Over 250 clergy and faith leaders have already signed on in support of the Freedom to marry in Oregon. "Marriage is about families and the freedom to marry reflects our values of treating all of our congregants the same, said Rev. Wilkins".

Rev. Chuck Currie signs the petition for marriage equality.

The message of the Gospel is the lens through which the whole of scripture is to be interpreted. Love and compassion, justice and peace are at the very core of the life and ministry of Jesus. It is a message that always bends toward inclusion. The biblical story recounts the ways in which inclusion and welcome to God's community is ever expanding -- from the story of Abraham and Sarah, to the inclusive ministry of Jesus, to the baptism of Cornelius, to the missionary journeys of Paul throughout the Greco- Roman world. The liberating work of the Spirit as witnessed in the activities of Jesus' ministry has been to address the situations and structures of exclusion, injustice and oppression that diminish God's people and keep them from realizing the full gift of human personhood in the context of human communion.

In that spirit, I signed my name to the petition this morning as a United Church of Christ minister serving two Reconciling Congregations in the United Methodist Church.

Some religious leaders in Oregon will obviously oppose marriage equality.  But they can no longer claim to speak for God or for the church universal.  A generation ago many churches used the Bible to oppose interacial marriage.  They were wrong then.  Many Christians today believe it is wrong to use to Bible and the teachings of Jesus, which call for inclusion and justice - to oppose marriage equality today.  

The Rev. Dr. Walter John Boris of the Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ speaks out in support of marriage equality.