“There is no implication here that everyone is called to agree to this decision,” Peery said. “We're going to strive to learn how to live together.”
“You're in a lot of trouble if you go out on a limb and do that without the support of your congregation,” said Kraft, of Holy Trinity Lutheran. “That's suicidal, so there's no point in doing that.”
Christ Church, an Episcopal congregation on Providence Road, spent months deliberating before Pastor Chip Edens told his 5,500-member congregation the church had e-sex weddings at their discretion for church members, effective immediately.
A church committee first recommended that they adopt a pro-same-sex marriage stance last October. In January, the church held a series of five workshops and brought in experts such as a psychology professor from UNC Charlotte to talk about gender identity, and a Duke divinity professor about how sexuality appears in the New Testament.
First Presbyterian Church uptown is taking a similar approach and will make a decision in the next few months. Pastor Pen Peery (who also happens to be Pete Peery's son) said he's tried to stress that as emotional as this issue can be, it's not the most important one for a faith community.
“What's more important than that is our identity in Christ,” he said. “Who we belong to is more important than what we believe about a particular issue.”
Carmel Baptist Church and Mecklenburg Community Church have both preached sermons stating that homosexuality is a sin in the past year
Park Road Baptist Church went through the process earlier than most. Sixty-five years ago, the church was born as part of the Southern Baptist Convention, but its founding pastor soon began to become more progressive in his theology.