Tulsa church welcomes SCOTUS decision

(Tulsa, Oklahoma) – After the nation's highest court decided in the gay marriage debate, a Tulsa church is welcoming the decision -- and welcoming gay couples to consider marriage at the church. 

Father Dewayne Messenger, pastor at the Parish Church of St. Jerome in Tulsa, called the decision an “historic and great day for gay couples in Oklahoma.”  

Saying the court decision follows what a vast majority of Americans already believe (55% support gay marriage in recent Gallup poll) Messenger said, “It’s just the right thing to do.”

“This is a remarkable day for loving, committed, couples in Oklahoma who wanted the legal right to marry their same-sex partners,” Messenger said.

The Parish Church of St. Jerome is an all-inclusive parish with the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. Gay marriages, while previously not sanctioned by the state, are performed at St. Jerome.

Messenger continued: “For too long, some in the religious community have been guilty of misinterpreting scripture and using it to incite self-hatred and societal shaming for gay couples.  Today, the courts have taken a position that overturns that.”  “We believe this is consistent with Christ’s own actions when he welcomed those who society had deemed as unworthy.”  “Jesus regularly welcomed the disenfranchised and despised which upset the religious right of his own day.”

Father Messenger is legally married to his same-gender spouse who is a retired US Air Force Colonel.

The Parish Church of St. Jerome was founded in 1995 to ensure that ALL PEOPLE regardless of gender, marital status, disability, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or age, are embraced and affirmed as full members of Christ's Church.

The Gayly – October 8, 2014 @ 9:50am