At its General Synod in April the Anglican Tikanga of the Dioceses of New Zealand, Aotearoa and Polynesia passed a motion regarding same gender marriage. Motion 30 seeks to see if there is a structure for the Anglican Church to hold onto the traditional view of marriage, and at the same time find a way of Read more
New Zealanders are marrying later than in the past. Statistics from the 2013 census released on 5 May show that in 2013, the median age at first marriage was 30.1 years for men and 28.6 years for women – up from 27.3 and 25.2 years in 1993. Although the median age at first marriage has Read more
The Anglican Church in New Zealand says its decision on whether to bless same-sex marriages is unlikely to be affected by a Church of England report. The British report has recommended the Church lift its ban, but not force individual clergy to offer public services. A commission set up by New Zealand’s Anglican Church to Read more
A protester who is alleged to have smashed glasses and threatened people with a Maori patu at a gay wedding expo appeared in court last Friday. The protester, Alexander David Course from Waikaretu, Waikato, faced three charges in Auckland District Court, including having an offensive weapon in a public place. He gatecrashed the Gay Wedding Read more
Provisional Statistics New Zealand figures show 117 same sex couples have married since on August 19. Statistics Minister Maurice Williamson said the information shows: One third of same sex marriages were for overseas residents. 47 of the 117 marriages were couples who transferred their civil union to marriage . There were 61 female couples and 56 Read more
Pacific churches hope to formulate a joint stand on same sex marriages by mid 2015. A Pacific Council of Churches Secretariat team is expected to begin a data gathering process early in 2014, visiting clergy and lay people in churches around the region. This process will ensure that as many views as possible are gathered Read more
There have been eighty-two same sex marriages since 19 August 2013, the first day same sex couples could get married in New Zealand. Thirty eight of these marriages have been between people who had already been in a civil union. 58 couples were resident in New Zealand, 24 were from elsewhere. The Registrar-General of Births, Read more
Self-labelled “gay affirming” Christchurch church Crave MCC is reaching out as a church willing to perform same-sex marriages. The church will next month hold a two-day event entitled “God wants more gay weddings? Marriage equality and the church.” Australian preacher Karl Hand, an openly gay theologian, will give talks at the event on sexual diversity Read more
Paul McCarthy and Trent Kandler from Speers Point, near Newcastle, were married in front of 20 family members and friends in Wellington on Monday after winning a competition run by Tourism New Zealand to be the first Australian gay couple to be wed under New Zealand’s same-sex marriage laws. The competition aimed to capitalise on the Read more
The head of New Zealand’s third-largest church has asked its ministers to consider a temporary ban on gay weddings to preserve the church’s “peace and unity”. The call from Presbyterian Church Moderator Ray Coster comes as all the country’s biggest Protestant churches remain divided over how to respond to the legalisation of gay weddings, which Read more