Shortest day, longest night

[shewhomust]

Wednesday saw England celebrate the solstice with a flurry of weddings: it was the first day on which it became possible to register a civil partnership, and the first couple to do so in Newcastle were our friends Malcolm and Christopher.

Technically, the ceremony conducted by the Registrar was not a wedding but a civil partnership, and the service which followed at the church of St. Thomas the Martyr was not a wedding, but a Eucharist of Thanksgiving for Friendship and Commitment. It wasn't even a blessing, as the Church of England has apparently ruled that gay partnerships may not be blessed in church. It felt like a wedding: a religious ritual in which two people who love each other and intend to conduct their lives as a couple hereafter, make a public declaration of that fact in the place where they are accustomed to worship their god: and their friends all express their delight with a rousing chorus of "And about time too!"

In his sermon, David Jenkins (the former Bishop of Durham), described the event as a ceremony of thanksgiving, and of defiance - but the thanksgiving was open and wholehearted, while to recognise the defiance, you had to be aware of the church's position on gay marriage and gay clergy. I am neither an insider nor an expert, but from what was said I infer that the Church of England has laid down a line which may not be crossed, and Wednesday's ceremony walked up to that line, set its elbows on the fence and leaned over to talk to the neighbours. After the sermon, Chris and Malcolm repeated the words of commitment which they had already spoken in front of the Registrar and witnesses. Then, although their union could not be, their rings were blessed. Another hymn, another prayer, communion for those who wanted it, and then off to the Civic Centre for eating and drinking and talking to friends old and new.

It was a very happy day; and durham_rambler and I ended the day in traditional Christmas style, by going to the Lit & Phil to be told ghost stories - of which more, if I get the chance, later.

Comments

[profane-stencil.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to them! And, I suppose, to everyone living under the new rules.

It's not enough, if you ask me, but it's a start.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I'm from the generation that thought marriage was going to die out, or at least become the preserve of a few eccentric religious types (like Chris and Malcolm): it's an old-fashioned piece of bourgeois conformism, and it can't last much longer.

Which shows how much I know...