Church Will Bless, Not Marry, Gays

A North Carolina Baptist church has decided to let its ministers bless same-sex couples, but not marry them, risking expulsion from the Baptist State Convention, church officials said. The Wake Forest Baptist Church is the third Baptist church in the state to take a stand in favor of inclusion of homosexuals in church life. The other two--Pullen Memorial Baptist in Raleigh, and Binkley Memorial Baptist in Chapel Hill--were subsequently ousted from the Baptist State Convention. Members of the Wake Forest Baptish Church approved a statement asking God “to bless all loving, committed and exclusive relationships between two people,” but did not approve a statement affirming same-sex unions.