Same sex marriage- a message from our Minister

My ministry, and life, is based around what Jesus said all other rules and laws should be based on:"Love God and love others as yourself". God's love is indiscriminate, it doesn't say anyone is more or less deserving of love, therefore my love should be the same. Everything we do and say should be tested against this. I'm only human and don't always get it right, like all of us, but with God's help, I try. So the Church of England's decision not to allow same sex marriages but to offer "blessings" saddens me as it discriminates. I understand that people have different views, but I will always go back to the indiscriminate love of God to which we should all aspire. Love is God's gift to us which we all experience in different ways, even if some do not recognise that gift comes from God (yet I hope that all will come to know it in time). It gives me great joy that I can marry same sex couples, just as I can marry opposite sex couples, without discrimination, in the Methodist Church, but sadness that "blessings" are stil only permitted in the Church of England. This isn't about reacting to "culture" or "society", it's about fully embracing God's love for all and for each other. And don't forget to love yourself as well, that's what God wants for you too.