Christian church in UK now offers transgender baptisms
By Shianee Mamanglu-Regala, Christian Today:
The New Chapel Unitarian and Free Christian Church has become the first church in the United Kingdom to offer baptisms to transgender members. The decision was passed by the congregation with a unanimous vote.
Jean Clements, worship leader at the church in Tameside near Manchester, said the accommodation was proposed after meeting a family who has a 10-year old girl to be baptised in her new gender, BBC reported, according to Christian News.
“I felt saddened by the fact that this family were being shunned by many mainstream churches,” said Clements. “I would like to thank one courageous girl for inspiring me to think carefully about this issue in the first place.”
Despite its controversial aspect, Clements said that the whole issue proved less contentious to the congregation, thus the unanimous decision.
“It felt entirely natural. There was no controversy when they voted at our annual general meeting. They spent more time discussing the autumn fair and whether we might move it to the summer. Now that was controversial,” she said.
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