NC Baptist church } Votes to Back Marriage Equality

   By: Associated Press 

                                                        

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina church won't hold any marriages until state law allows same-sex couples to wed.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported (http://bit.ly/vwCYkp) Monday that the congregation of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church voted to prohibit their pastor from legally marrying anyone until she can legally marry same-sex couples.

Marriage ceremonies at the Raleigh church will continue to be conducted but the pastor won't sign a certificate the state requires to establish a legal marriage.

No one spoke out against the marriage statement Sunday in a gathering that filled a meeting hall with mostly gray-haired churchgoers.

The church near the North Carolina State University campus was kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1992 after a decision to bless gay marriages. Pastor Nancy Petty is a lesbian.

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Information from: The News & Observer,

http://www.newsobserver.com