The "NRSV" (New Revised Standard Version) of Marriage Certificates!

 We all know of the "New Revised Standard Version" of the Bible, aka, NRSV.

When I officiated the wedding of Dayna Jones and Luke Harris last week in Larimer County, Colorado, I was impressed by the NRSV version of the Marriage Certificate.

The language was all new!

Background: I have officiated between 100-200 weddings. For awhile in NC, I was contacted by several wedding venue sites, in which a couple simply needed a "Marrying Sam," from "Lil' Abner" days. It was easy money, and a tool of evangelism, as some of the couples whose weddings I officiated, joined the church where I was pastor after the ceremonies. 

When I came out of my "gay closet," I stopped doing weddings. Why? Because I got tired of giving non-LGBTQIA+ couples 1,333 laws for $45 that I, as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, could never get for that price, simply because there were was no such thing as same sex or LGBTQIA+ weddings. I only started officiating weddings again on Oct. 11, 2014, right after the constitution of the great state of NC allowed for same sex/LGBTQIA+ weddings. 

Hallelujah!

What I noticed this time on the marriage certificate was the new language. There was no "husband" and "wife" categories, in which those were initially scratched out on old marriage certificates once we were allowed to marry. Instead, there was the language of "Party." Instead of "adults" or "people" or "person," there was simply "Party 1," and "Party 2." There was no gender identifying or spousal identifying language at all in this new revised standard version of the marriage certificate in Colorado. 

Again, Hallelujah!

May we continue to see such changes in all documents in this nation and abroad.

Hallelujah! Amen.


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