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Victorian Church Cancels Couple’s Wedding After They Support Same-Sex Marriage

Read the bride's emotional letter to the priest

A bride and groom just had their wedding venue cancel on them after they expressed their support for same-sex marriage on Facebook. 

The 26-year-old bride and 25-year-old groom were due to be married this November at the Presbyterian church they have attended for the past 10 years, Ebenezer St John’s in Ballarat, Victoria.

But when the church found out the bride had written a Facebook post concerning the same-sex marriage postal vote (and expressing that she would be voting ‘yes’), minister Steven North asked the couple to meet him, where he informed them he would no longer marry them and they could no longer hold their wedding at the church, SMH reports.

“I know it’s something not everyone will agree on and that’s fine but this is what I stand for and frankly it doesn’t effect [sic] my relationship with [my partner] one bit,” the bride-to-be had written on her social media account. 

North then wrote a follow-up letter to the bride, which was provided to Fairfax Media.  

“After the pre-marital counselling that you attended and the sermons delivered at Ebenezer on this subject, you must surely appreciate that your commitment to same-sex marriage opposes the teaching of Christ Jesus and the scriptural position practiced by the Presbyterian Church of Australia and by me,” he said. 

“By continuing to officiate it would appear either that I support your views on same-sex marriage or that I am uncaring about this matter. As you know, neither statement is correct,” he continued.

The bride and groom, who have chosen to remain anonymous, penned an emotional reply to the priest, writing: 

“We feel this decision is absolutely disgraceful and is a disgrace to you and all the church, especially when we have been loyal and valued members of this congregation for 10 years.”

“You were made aware from the beginning of our proceedings that we had gay friends and also that people in our wedding party were gay. How could you assume that we would abandon them or degrade them with regards to same-sex marriage?”

“We understand we did agree with the teachings of the church in our marriage counselling but just because we agree with that for our own lives, doesn’t mean that we have to push those beliefs onto others.”

The pair also expressed the cancellation had caused “a great deal of stress.”

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