Why Marriage Matters: Rev. Melvin & Candice Woodworth

This video is the fourth in a series highlighting Washington Families and individuals from all walks of life sharing the importance of marriage to their lives.

Rev. Melvin Woodworth of Tacoma, like many veteran clergymembers didn’t begin his professional ministry with much perspective on gay marriage. However, he notes:

“Our tradition said that God didn’t think it was good for a person to be alone. God wants us to be in relationship with other people…[and] in relationships that have certain qualities– honesty, faithfulness, mutuality, equality…”

In the video, Rev. Woodworth talks about meeting with a gay parishioner early in his work.  “As he talked to me, I realized that he was like every other person who had come to me wanting to get married,” he says. “He had love in his heart, he wanted to share it with the person he had found, and he wanted to shout it from the rooftops.”

Working with gay parishioners and years of deep study of and reflection upon religious scripture led him to his final conclusion:

“I’ve just come to the point where I understand that this is the right thing to do.”

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