The Church of Sweden says ‘yes’ to marriage

The Church of Sweden will be applying for the right to conduct marriages and, as of 1 November this year, will be marrying same-sex couples. This was the decision of the General Synod in Uppsala today.

A majority in the General Synod supported the committee’s recommendations, which were in agreement with the communication of the Central Board of the Church of Sweden on applying for the right of the Church of Sweden to conduct marriages and adopting changes in the Church Order. This means that marriage will encompass both heterosexual and homosexual couples. In addition, guidelines for the marriage service for same-sex couples were adopted. These will be added to Den svenska kyrkohandboken (The Book of Worship of the Church of Sweden). Important links: Images for download are available at www.svenskakyrkan.se/ikon/press