Pastors Have Clarity on Same-Sex Marriage, Not the Role of LGBTQ+ People in Churches

Although most pastors haven’t been asked to marry a same-sex couple, many have guidelines on where LGBTQ+ people can serve in their churches.

By Marissa Postell

This month marks seven years since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage with its Obergefell v. Hodges decision. Five years later, the 2020 American Community Survey from the United States Census Bureau estimated there were more than 570,000 same-sex married couple households in the United States.

But most of these same-sex couples did not ask a Protestant pastor to marry them. A study from Lifeway Research found 87% of Protestant pastors have never been asked to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony. Of those who have been asked, 9% have been asked within the past five years, while 3% say it’s been over five years since they were asked to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony. At the time of a 2016 study from Lifeway Research, 88% of Protestant pastors had never been asked to perform a same-sex wedding, and 11% had been asked. Read More