In a document presented Wednesday 19 June,
in Berlin, the German Protestant Church calls for a broader
understanding of the concept of family, to include same sex unions not
just traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
The proposal made
in this document is seen as a turning point.
The 162 page text, prepared
by a special commission which worked on the document for three years,
says that what constitutes a family today are “the parents (one or two),
with their own offspring or adopted children or children taken into
foster care.”
But the concept of family also extends to so-called
patchwork families formed after divorce or remarriage, to childless
couples and to same-sex couples with children from a previous
relationship.
Marriage is a gift of God, the document goes on to
say, but as the New Testament shows, it cannot count as the only form
of life. Marriage technically helps give direction but does not
constitute written dogma.
In German law, the concept of family is
conceived in a broader sense, so the Church and its actions should also
interpret the concept of family in a broader sense, the text argues.
Christine Bergmann, who is president of the
special commission that drew up these guidelines and Germany’s former
minister for family and women’s affairs, said that when people have a
lasting relationship and take responsibility for one another, the
Church, the State and society should support them in this, regardless of
how they live their relationship and family life.
The text goes on to say that throughout the Bible,
faithful are called to live together in a trusting, loving and
responsible relationship. If same-sex couples live their relationship by
this rule, then their union should be given theological recognition and
valued in the same way as heterosexual unions are.
When a same-sex
couple decides to make their relationship official by entering a civil
union and publicly declaring that they want to form a lasting bond and
be responsible for one another, just like heterosexual couples, then
their relationship deserves to be recognised as such.
When a couple
reaches a certain stage of their life where they want their relationship
to receive God’s blessing, the Protestant Church should not deny them
this, even for theological reasons, the texts says.