Jean Rivers, Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones, and Kristin Rivers, directly after their marriage service in San Jose.
Jean and Kristin Rivers just after they were pronounced legally married at the First Unitarian Church of San Jose.
Rev. John Gibb Millspugh (left) with Eric Nichols and Matthew Brideson (right) as they applied for marriage licenses. They married the next day.
Unitarian Universalist Congregations in California Celebrate Equal Marriages
June 19, 2008
As California welcomes the legalization of same-sex marriages, Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations across the state are joyfully hosting weddings.Eight years and two days after their first wedding, UUs Jean Javette Rivers and Kristin Noel Millich Rivers were married again on Wednesday, June 18, at the First Unitarian Church of San Jose. This time, their union is legally-recognized.
"We are all soaring," said Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones, senior minister at First Unitarian. "Yesterday evening (June 17) we offered free brief ceremonies and a small reception for couples who wanted a 'church wedding' on the very first full day that they could legally wed. I got to officiate at 7 weddings in our sanctuary. The power of the love among these couples and their families was so palpable that everyone there felt lifted into a holy place. Tonight, with our own beloved members Kristin and Jean's wedding, I feel we have truly entered a new era of fairness and equality for all."
On the same day, Eric Daniel Nichols and Matthew Brideson were married in the first legally recognized same-sex wedding to take place in the sanctuary of the Tapestry congregation in Mission Viejo, California. The two men have been together for eleven years, and their June 18th wedding coincides with the wedding anniversary of Nichols’ parents.
Rev. John Gibb Millspaugh officiated the wedding and concluded by saying, “By the power vested in me by the state of California, but most of all by the power of your love and commitment, it gives me great pleasure to now pronounce you spouses for life. May you be blessed with grace in abundance, and may your marriage, in turn, bless the world.”
At the Costa Mesa-based Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church (OCUUC), Rev. Dr. Karen Stoyanoff has announced that she will officiate marriage ceremonies free of charge for one month, through July 17, 2008. The board of OCUUC has generously matched her gift by offering the 160-seat sanctuary, and adjacent social hall and kitchen, rent free for the ceremonies. “Our decision to offer our church building is our heartfelt way to reach out to the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender community in a show of support,” OCUUC President Nancy Loughrey explained. “The California Supreme Court decision has been a long time coming…we say it’s time to celebrate.”
“I have never understood how ‘We the people’ could effectively say, ‘You cannot love that person,’” said Stoyanoff. “Now, finally, our state has extended the freedom to marry to all adult Californians.”
More coverage of legal marriage in California will follow on UUWorld.org in the coming days.
Last updated on Friday, June 20, 2008.
