In the peaked wooden chapel of The United Church of Gainesville, ministers blessed the now-legal unions of same-sex couples.
The church performed the marriage-blessing ceremony in light of the recent legislation Tuesday making same-sex marriage legal in Florida. Thirteen couples from the congregation, also including heterosexual couples, had their marriages presented to God.
On Sunday, church members sat scattered throughout the horseshoe-shaped rows of seats around the couples while the Rev. Andy Bachmann addressed the congregation from a lectern. Illuminated by golden lights, he opened the marriage-blessing ceremony.
“Marriage is a civil right,” he said, “and love is a blessed gift.”
Of the same-sex couples blessed that day, most had been together for decades. For John Frachiseur and Luis Pedreria, a legal marriage has been 47 years in the works.
“They gave us the same rights that everyone else has,” Frachiseur said, “but we never felt we weren’t a couple, even though we weren’t married. The law is just in addition to what we already have.”
For Pedreria, the only change was a mental one. To finally not feel like a second-class citizen was a significant change.
“Neither one of us thought any of this would ever happen,” Frachiseur said.
Bachmann called the couples to join hands and recite line-by-line after him:
“Beloved, you are my spouse and my partner.”
The couples recited after the reverend, some in a private murmur and some in bold confidence.
“I promise to be faithful to you, to love and care for you.”
A tear rolled down the smiling face of a woman in a navy blue pant suit. She beamed at her wife, their fingers interlocked.
“In sickness and health and in joy and sorrow for as long as we both shall live.”
Members of the church stepped forward and rested their hands on the couples in prayer. Applause and laughter echoed after the last “amen.”
“We wanted to provide a religious, spiritual context for a civil ceremony of marriage,” said the Rev. Shelly Wilson, “to offer that blessing from the church and on behalf of God and the congregation.”
The church, which has been open to all gender identities and sexual orientations since 1991, supports the right to have stable, healthy relationships, so this blessing was a natural step, Wilson said.
As for Frachiseur and Pedreria, they have yet to get their marriage license. They aren’t in a rush.
“In my lifetime, I never thought I’d see this happen,” Frachiseur said.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 1/12/2015 under the headline “UCG offers marriage-blessing ceremony for same-sex couples"]
Luis Pedreira, left, and his partner John Franchiseur, listen to Associate Minister Andrew M. Bachmann during a marriage blessing at United Church of Gainesville on Sunday morning. Pedreira and Franchiseur have been together for 47 years and were one of 13 couples blessed.
