MOSCOW, June 9 (Sputnik) — The Scottish Episcopal Church on Thursday voted to allow same sex marriages, it said in a press release.
"The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church today voted in favour of altering the church’s Canon on Marriage to remove the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman and add a new section that acknowledges that there are different understandings of marriage which now allows clergy to solemnise marriage between same sex couples as well as couples of the opposite sex," the statement read.
But the Church stressed that no member of clergy would be required to sanctify a marriage against their conscience.
The reform means that gay Christians from any Anglican Church will be allowed to get married in the Scottish Episcopal Church, making it the first major Christian church in the United Kingdom to allow same sex marriages.
