Harvard-Epworth is proud to be a Reconciling Church within the Reconciling Ministries Network, welcoming all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, ability, marital status or financial condition.
The Harvard-Epworth community has long supported full inclusion in the life of the church for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, and we have celebrated the ability of same-sex couples to be lawfully married in Massachusetts since May, 2004.
It is our deeply held conviction that the provisions of the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church that exclude lesbian and gay people from the full life of the church, including the prohibitions on United Methodist clergy conducting same-sex marriages and on same-sex marriages being conducted in United Methodist churches, are prejudicial, discriminatory and fundamentally inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
We recognize that it is the right and responsibility of our pastor, and not the congregation, to decide whether any particular marriage ceremony is to be performed in our church, but we believe it is incumbent upon us as a congregation to voice our dismay at the discriminatory provisions in the Book of Discipline and our strong support of marriage equality.
Accordingly, we resolve as a congregation (i) to support and honor the marriage of couples licensed to be married in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts equally, regardless of gender, (ii) to approve the use of our church building equally for all marriage ceremonies, including same-sex marriages, and (iii) to affirm our full support to our pastor if he or she chooses to celebrate a same-sex marriage in our building.
Approved unanimously by the Church Council, October 21, 2013