In Germany, evangelical pastor “marries” four men into one “couple”
In Berlin, Protestants have “blessed” a polygamous gay union for the first time.
Pastor Lena Müller of the Evangelical Church in Berlin conducted a ceremony in which she blessed four gay men as “one family”, BILD reports.
Müller, who openly promotes a “queer-inclusive” and feminist approach, organized a “pop-up wedding festival” near St. Kreuz Church in Berlin this summer – an event where people could come without prior registration. Among those who attended were four men – two from Latvia, one from Thailand, and, reportedly, one from Spain – who asked her to perform a “wedding” ceremony for them.
According to the pastor, the event team quickly agreed: “We saw that there was a lot of love between them. What could God possibly have against there being four of them instead of two?”
Even so, Müller admitted that an official church record was not possible, as this requires a legally registered marriage, and polygamy is prohibited by German law. Nevertheless, she stated that she considers the ceremony a legitimate “union before God”.
Same-sex church weddings have been performed by evangelicals in Germany for many years. However, the blessing of a group of people as a “family” goes beyond even the innovations previously introduced by some Protestant communities.
In Germany, such actions raise not only religious but also legal questions. German law recognizes marriage only between two people, and polygamy is not only prohibited but also constitutes a criminal offense.
As the UOJ reported, a Canadian minister recently called for banning Bible quotations over their alleged “hatred” toward LGBT people.
