From the Press & Sun-Bulletin
Religious officials issue statements
Since the state Legislature approved same-sex marriages June 24, several church leaders whose denominations include Southern Tier residents have issued statements to reiterate or clarify policies related to clergy officiating at gay ceremonies.
With the state on the cusp of a historic day Sunday when same-sex marriage becomes legal in New 
For better or worse, churches and other religious organizations have been the traditional venues for many ceremonies, with each denomination settings its own policies related to who gets to walk down the aisle.
Few denominations are currently on record as supporting same-sex marriages; nothing was changed spiritually by lawmakers' approving civic marriages.
One exception is the Episcopal Church in Central New York.
Just a few days after the state approved same-sex marriages, Bishop Gladstone B. Adams dispatched a letter to clergy in the regional diocese, which includes Broome County, giving his permission to preside at gay ceremonies.
After the state approved same-sex marriages, Adams noted the church was in "a new place" where Episcopalians can move from blessing of relationships -- which had been allowed -- to presiding at same-sex marriages.
Adams noted the decision rests fully in the hearts and minds of individual clergy and no one would be required to preside at a same-sex marriage ceremony.
If asked by a same-sex couple to officiate, the Rev. Mark Giroux, pastor of St. Mark Episcopal Church in Chenango Bridge, said he would be supportive. Giroux would handle the request in the same manner as he does for heterosexual couples in terms of pre-marital
"I don't just do weddings," said Giroux.
So far, Giroux has not received any requests from same-sex couples.
The national Episcopal Church had urged "a generous pastoral response" in dioceses where same-sex marriage is legal.
Interestingly, not all Episcopal bishops in New York share Adams' position. In Albany, Bishop William H. Love issued a statement after the state approved the legislation that said he expected clergy to abide by church canon, which defines marriage as a covenant between man and woman.
With the exception of the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church has opened its doors to gays and lesbians -- including the ordination of a homosexual bishop in 2003 in New Hampshire -- as wide as any mainline Protestant denomination or the Catholic Church.
"We like to say we're glad to see New York catch up with us," said the Rev. Rita Root, interim conference minister of the United Church of Christ New York Conference.
"Since 2005 when the denomination approved a resolution in support of same-sex marriage, many of our UCC pastors have been working on this issue," said Root. "I'm personally very pleased that it's happening."
Root said each individual UCC pastor and congregation will make the decision whether to preside at same-sex marriages, although the denomination itself is supportive.
Others -- including the United Methodist, Presbyterian USA and Catholic churches -- will not immediately change their policies simply because New York legalized same-sex marriages.
A few days after the legislature's approval, Bishop Marcus Matthews issued a statement that said New York's legalizing of same-sex marriages doesn't change United Methodist policy, which prohibits clergy from officiating at gay ceremonies.
The policy may only be changed by the church's national conference, which meets in the spring.
For now, church policy condones homosexuality as incompatible with Christian teaching, according to Maidstone Mulenga, director of communications for the regional Upper New York conference, which includes Broome, Tioga and Chenango counties.
Likewise, the new law has no impact on the Presbyterian Church USA's understanding of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, said the Rev. Cheryl Ann Elfond, interim executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley in Bainbridge.
In all dioceses, the Catholic church remains staunchly opposed to same-sex marriages.
"We believe that marriage is a sacrament celebrated between a baptized man and a baptized woman, and so same-sex marriage is not possible," said Bishop Matthew H. Clark, of the Rochester diocese, which includes Tioga County.
Two days after lawmakers passed the same-sex legislation, Clark and other bishops in New York
"We bishops share with so many of you deep disappointment in the presumption of our state's elected officials in the radical redefinition of marriage," according to the written statement.
In the days prior to the vote, several local clergy in the Southern Tier calling themselves Equality Binghamton issued a collective statement in support of same-sex marriages.
Among the signees was Rabbi Barbara Goldman-Wartell, of Temple Concord on Riverside Drive in Binghamton.
In an e-mail, Goldman-Wartell wrote, "I did not have any requests to officiate at any marriage ceremonies since the new law was approved ... I have put my name on a list of clergy who are willing to officiate at such ceremonies."
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