Although San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in mid-February, Cook County Clerk David Orr announced Tuesday that his office would not follow suit — a statement some religious leaders in Evanston find reassuring in the debate over gay marriage.
Calling Illinois state law “discriminatory and unconstitutional” for preventing gay marriages, Orr wrote in a press release that the county would not openly flaunt the law, although it currently allows same-sex couples the option of registering their partnership.
“Even if it were made legal in Evanston, gay couples could be married in a civil union, but I don’t feel like the church needs to change and give their blessings,” said Mark Adams, the pastor at Hillside Free Methodist Church, 2727 Crawford Ave.
Adams said he believes allowing gay marriage licenses contradicts his church’s theological principles, as well as the philosophy that reproduction is the purpose of marriage between a man and a woman. His church has never been requested to bless a same-sex union and is not willing to change its attitude towards gay marriage.
Adams said San Francisco’s decision to issue same-sex marriage licenses did not surprise him.
“But what San Francisco is choosing to do is morally wrong and illegal,” Adams said.
Pastor Frank Senn of Immanuel Lutheran Church, 616 Lake St., said he is not obligated to bless any couple, although the government has opened up to the idea of same-sex unions,
“There is a difference between a civil matter and what the church thinks,” said Senn, adding that the decisions of the church and the government are separate because church is sacramental.
“We’re dealing with an intense cultural tradition,” Senn said. “I don’t think that the court can come in and decide what kind of law legislatures need to pass, like in Massachusetts. If the legislature wants to pass a law, then it’s OK. But the courts shouldn’t get involved.”
On the other hand, Pastor Lisa Telomen of Hemenway United Methodist Church, 933 Chicago Ave., said her church welcomes people of all sexual orientations and was happy to hear of the possibility of gay marriage. The Methodist Church restricts blessing same-sex marriages, but she hopes legal acceptance of gay marriages will eventually persuade the church to change.
“I hope Mayor (Richard M.) Daley will step forward with cities like San Francisco,” Telomen said. “More of this needs to happen in the future.”
Shirley Weller, a member of Covenant United Methodist Church, 2123 Harrison St., said she is not opposed to legalizing gay marriage, but added that the view of the church is more complicated than her own opinion.
“What is it about the word marriage that we are so hung up about?” Weller said. “If the issue is the word marriage, then maybe we should change what a civil union means. Marriage is not the only way people can be in a committed, serious and positive relationship.”
Since October the Cook County Clerk’s office has given same-sex couples the opportunity to register together. Although the registry does not entail the same rights as marriage, it establishes a legal record, said Cass Cliatt, spokeswoman for the clerk’s office.
Still some believe the debate has revealed a spectrum of opinions because of the freedom that exists in the United States, Adams said. People against legalizing gay marriages still have the right to speak out against the issue, even if the law changes to accommodate same-sex couples.
“Regardless of whatever perspective,” Adams said, “we can work with one another in a broad diverse community.”
