Bay Area churches opened door to same-sex vows

Bay Area priests began blessing the partnerships of gay and lesbian couples at least three decades ago, but often in clandestine gatherings.

Fearing rebuke, priests and parishioners sometimes hid from public view or church hierarchies. The early 1970s was a time when gays and lesbians feared losing their jobs or having their gatherings raided by police, even without the stickier issue of seeking sanction before God.

But the secret blessings became revolutionary acts, redefining the very notion of marriage and paving the way for what will take place across the state this week. When county clerks around the state issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, they will be capping a movement that was shaped by some of this region's churches.

"What some churches and faith communities here in the Bay Area have helped to do is show that social justice for LGBT people is part of a broader social justice commitment for all," said the Rev. Jay Johnson, senior director for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion in Berkeley.

A primary reason many gays and lesbians have wanted to get married, he said, is the way marriage is valued in faith communities.

Craig Wiesner and Derrick Kikuchi believe their 1990 marriage ceremony at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto helped build a congregation of supporters that translated into a stepping-stone for the wider societal acceptance that was to come.

"Not everybody in that congregation was fully on board with the idea of gay rights and certainly not gay marriage," said Wiesner, 48. "But participating in that service, attending it or just getting to know us turned quite a few people into advocates for gay rights and gay marriage."

Support within the church

Straight parishioners who once told them they were uncomfortable with their marriage later would speak out for them in public, Wiesner said.

The Bay Area has had a number of seminal moments in the history of gays and lesbians in organized religion. The first ordination of an openly gay minister, William Johnson, took place in San Carlos. One of two openly gay bishops in the Anglican Communion, Otis Charles, is a Bay Area resident.

But even so, the vast majority of churches in the region limit the role of gays and lesbians. Only one mainline Protestant denomination - the United Church of Christ, which ordained Johnson - marries homosexual couples with the same rite used for heterosexual couples. And the number of churches friendly to gays and lesbians is much lower than the number of Catholic, evangelical or other conservative Christian churches in the region.

Bay Area priests began blessing the partnerships of gay and lesbian couples at least three decades ago, but often in clandestine gatherings.

Fearing rebuke, priests and parishioners sometimes hid from public view or church hierarchies. The early 1970s was a time when gays and lesbians feared losing their jobs or having their gatherings raided by police, even without the stickier issue of seeking sanction before God.

But the secret blessings became revolutionary acts, redefining the very notion of marriage and paving the way for what will take place across the state this week. When county clerks around the state issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, they will be capping a movement that was shaped by some of this region's churches.

"What some churches and faith communities here in the Bay Area have helped to do is show that social justice for LGBT people is part of a broader social justice commitment for all," said the Rev. Jay Johnson, senior director for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion in Berkeley.

A primary reason many gays and lesbians have wanted to get married, he said, is the way marriage is valued in faith communities.

Craig Wiesner and Derrick Kikuchi believe their 1990 marriage ceremony at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto helped build a congregation of supporters that translated into a stepping-stone for the wider societal acceptance that was to come.

"Not everybody in that congregation was fully on board with the idea of gay rights and certainly not gay marriage," said Wiesner, 48. "But participating in that service, attending it or just getting to know us turned quite a few people into advocates for gay rights and gay marriage."

Support within the church

Straight parishioners who once told them they were uncomfortable with their marriage later would speak out for them in public, Wiesner said.

The Bay Area has had a number of seminal moments in the history of gays and lesbians in organized religion. The first ordination of an openly gay minister, William Johnson, took place in San Carlos. One of two openly gay bishops in the Anglican Communion, Otis Charles, is a Bay Area resident.

But even so, the vast majority of churches in the region limit the role of gays and lesbians. Only one mainline Protestant denomination - the United Church of Christ, which ordained Johnson - marries homosexual couples with the same rite used for heterosexual couples. And the number of churches friendly to gays and lesbians is much lower than the number of Catholic, evangelical or other conservative Christian churches in the region.

Bay Area priests began blessing the partnerships of gay and lesbian couples at least three decades ago, but often in clandestine gatherings.

Fearing rebuke, priests and parishioners sometimes hid from public view or church hierarchies. The early 1970s was a time when gays and lesbians feared losing their jobs or having their gatherings raided by police, even without the stickier issue of seeking sanction before God.

But the secret blessings became revolutionary acts, redefining the very notion of marriage and paving the way for what will take place across the state this week. When county clerks around the state issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, they will be capping a movement that was shaped by some of this region's churches.

"What some churches and faith communities here in the Bay Area have helped to do is show that social justice for LGBT people is part of a broader social justice commitment for all," said the Rev. Jay Johnson, senior director for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion in Berkeley.

A primary reason many gays and lesbians have wanted to get married, he said, is the way marriage is valued in faith communities.

Craig Wiesner and Derrick Kikuchi believe their 1990 marriage ceremony at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto helped build a congregation of supporters that translated into a stepping-stone for the wider societal acceptance that was to come.

"Not everybody in that congregation was fully on board with the idea of gay rights and certainly not gay marriage," said Wiesner, 48. "But participating in that service, attending it or just getting to know us turned quite a few people into advocates for gay rights and gay marriage."

Support within the church

Straight parishioners who once told them they were uncomfortable with their marriage later would speak out for them in public, Wiesner said.

The Bay Area has had a number of seminal moments in the history of gays and lesbians in organized religion. The first ordination of an openly gay minister, William Johnson, took place in San Carlos. One of two openly gay bishops in the Anglican Communion, Otis Charles, is a Bay Area resident.

But even so, the vast majority of churches in the region limit the role of gays and lesbians. Only one mainline Protestant denomination - the United Church of Christ, which ordained Johnson - marries homosexual couples with the same rite used for heterosexual couples. And the number of churches friendly to gays and lesbians is much lower than the number of Catholic, evangelical or other conservative Christian churches in the region.

Bay Area priests began blessing the partnerships of gay and lesbian couples at least three decades ago, but often in clandestine gatherings.

Fearing rebuke, priests and parishioners sometimes hid from public view or church hierarchies. The early 1970s was a time when gays and lesbians feared losing their jobs or having their gatherings raided by police, even without the stickier issue of seeking sanction before God.

But the secret blessings became revolutionary acts, redefining the very notion of marriage and paving the way for what will take place across the state this week. When county clerks around the state issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, they will be capping a movement that was shaped by some of this region's churches.

"What some churches and faith communities here in the Bay Area have helped to do is show that social justice for LGBT people is part of a broader social justice commitment for all," said the Rev. Jay Johnson, senior director for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion in Berkeley.

A primary reason many gays and lesbians have wanted to get married, he said, is the way marriage is valued in faith communities.

Craig Wiesner and Derrick Kikuchi believe their 1990 marriage ceremony at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto helped build a congregation of supporters that translated into a stepping-stone for the wider societal acceptance that was to come.

"Not everybody in that congregation was fully on board with the idea of gay rights and certainly not gay marriage," said Wiesner, 48. "But participating in that service, attending it or just getting to know us turned quite a few people into advocates for gay rights and gay marriage."

Support within the church

Straight parishioners who once told them they were uncomfortable with their marriage later would speak out for them in public, Wiesner said.

The Bay Area has had a number of seminal moments in the history of gays and lesbians in organized religion. The first ordination of an openly gay minister, William Johnson, took place in San Carlos. One of two openly gay bishops in the Anglican Communion, Otis Charles, is a Bay Area resident.

But even so, the vast majority of churches in the region limit the role of gays and lesbians. Only one mainline Protestant denomination - the United Church of Christ, which ordained Johnson - marries homosexual couples with the same rite used for heterosexual couples. And the number of churches friendly to gays and lesbians is much lower than the number of Catholic, evangelical or other conservative Christian churches in the region.

 See Bay Area churches opened door to same-sex vows