The United Protestant Church of France (EPUdF) celebrated the blessing in Montpellier (Hérault) of the first marriage of lesbian pastors, authorized since a 2015 synod opening the possibility of blessing same-sex couples, we learned on Monday 26 July.

This is the first union of a couple of pastors of the same sex.

"We are going there little by little, there is an important symbolic dimension," Jean-François Breyne told AFP, the pastor who presided over this first blessing on Saturday at the Protestant temple of Maguelone, in Montpellier.

"There is a reality (on the question of homosexual marriage in the Protestant Church) which is moving forward, in fact, quite rapidly", he noted, delighted with the "impact" of this celebration for his "two young colleagues ".

Émeline Daudé and Agnès Kauffmann are the first lesbian pastors to have said "yes" since the United Protestant Church of France decided to expand its possibilities for liturgical accompaniment, as reported by the newspaper Le Monde.

"We celebrated it like a banal wedding, it is a step taken for the Church", testifies Agnès to AFP.

"LGBT people need to see other engaged LGBT people, including in the world of religions," adds Émeline.

The two women, aged 31 and 33 respectively, are currently "proposers" - at the start of their careers to become pastors.

This blessing is "neither a right nor an obligation"

Adopted during a vote of the delegates of the national synod in Sète (Hérault) in May 2015, the possibility of blessing gay or lesbian couples, aroused opposition within the EPUdF.

"There were parishes and a few reluctant colleagues" to authorize this blessing, recalls Jean-François Breyne.

"It remains a sensitive subject", confirms Daniel Cassou, pastor and communication manager for the EPUdF.

"It took two years of maturation, maturation, dialogue, for an agreement to emerge to agree to give this authorization," he continues.

However, the 2015 synod's decision leaves freedom of discernment, specifying that this blessing is "neither a right nor an obligation" and that it "is not binding on any parish or pastor".

Concerning marriage, Protestant theology does not recognize a sacrament (only baptism and the Lord's Supper are recognized as such), but celebrates a blessing granted after a civil ceremony for heterosexual or homosexual people.

After the Popular Evangelical Mission, the EPUdF is the second Protestant church in France to practice this "liturgical gesture".

According to Daniel Cassou, about thirty Protestant churches around the world have given their authorization to bless same-sex couples.   

With AFP

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