Married lesbian couple become first to be jointly ordained in US ceremony
Pair, who married in 2011, have both taken positions within the Presbyterian faith
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Your support makes all the difference.A same-sex couple in the US have become the first lesbian pair to be jointly ordained ministers by the Presbyterian Church.
Reverends Kaci and Holly Clarke-Porter attended their joint ordination ceremony at the First and Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday afternoon last week.
The ceremony comes shortly after members of the national American church voted to expand the church’s definition of marriage, recognising it to be between two individuals rather than simply a man and a woman.
The couple, who met at an Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2009 and married in 2011, hope that their spiritual connection will help them in their future lives and careers.
“I hope that we keep each other energetic and that we’ll continue to hold each other accountable to our ordinations and fight for social justice together,” Holly, 29 told The Huffington Post.
Holly, who like her wife was born and raised in Texas, stepped into the breach after Kaci realised she was not suited for the role of associate pastor at First and Central. She’s now the church’s first openly gay clergy member.
Meanwhile, Kaci, 33, took up the role of pastor of the Big Gay Church, a community for LGBTQ Christians.
She said that the most rewarding part of her role as is being able to reassure those members of the LGBTQ community about aspects of their lives and choices.
“They want to hear from a person in the church who speaks with a little authority that God loves them or that God loves their child,” she said, adding that it was a “real gift and honour” to be in her position.
The denomination has around 1.8million members in 10,000 congregations. It is also the largest Protestant group to recognise gay marriage.
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