Holy Union

THE PATRON SAINTS OF SAME SEX HOLY UNION

SS. SERGIUS & BACCHUS 7TH CENTURY ICON

WHAT IS A HOLY UNION?

  • A Holy Union is the spiritual joining of two persons of the same sex.
  • It is a Christian Celebration of Love.
  • It is a Covenant in where public vows and promises are made.
  • We take this ceremony seriously, this vows are made before God.

HOLY UNION IS NOT…

  • A government involved ceremony, it is a service, ministry and ceremony of our Church.
  • A magic or a quick fix for a broken or strained relationship. If your relationship is in trouble, it is not appropriate to have a Holy Union.

IS THE HOLY UNION LEGAL IN THE PHILIPPINES?

  • There are no existing laws about same sex marriage or holy union in the Philippines, It is neither illegal nor legal.
  • Here is the Philippines we are enjoying FREEDOM OF RELIGION, and because Christianity is our religion and the Church of God – CUC is our church, we are given by our constitution to practice our religion and it includes Holy Unions.
  • For example, there are laws here in the Philippines about bigamy, polygamy and adultery but our Muslim Brothers are allowed by their religion Islam to marry more than one wife. But they are not persecuted by our laws because of FREEDOM OF RELIGION.
  • If you are planning to have a Holy Union at our church, you will have to fill up legal documents that are accepted to all countries that have same sex marriage laws, like some states of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and some European countries.

THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES ARTICLE III SECTION 5

Section 5. “No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights”

THE YOGYAKARTA PRINCIPLES

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?

  • Accomplished Holy Union Registration from our church.
  • 2 X 2 Picture with white background
  • Photo copy of birth certificate, residential certificate, 2 valid ID’s, barangay clearance and new NBI clearance.
  • Photo copy of passport (If you are a foreigner or an OFW)

CRITERIA FOR HOLY UNION

  • At least 8 to 12 months relationship.
  • Schedule personal interview with our Pastor
  • Partners will undergo a Pre-holy union counseling if your relationship is less than 12 months.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO SCHEDULE A HOLY UNION

  • Complete all the requirements needed for the Holy Union
  • Bring all the requirements to our office or you can email all the requirements to cucphilippines@gmail.com or bring all the requirements to the wedding place.
  • Schedule an interview with our Pastor for the wedding date, place etc.

CONTACT OUR LOCAL PASTOR

  • Contact person: Rev. Fr. Regen R. Luna,  SSD CDOS
  • Email: regenluna@gmail.com
  • Mobile: (+63) 927.06.01
  • Office:  Block P Extension, Brgy. San Simon, along Dexterville Subdivision, DBBC Cavite Philippines 4115

HOLY UNION PHOTOS FROM OUR CHURCH ARCHIVES

HOLY UNION ONLINE APPLICATION FORM

1. We believe that God created heterosexuals and homosexuals.

“This is the list of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and named them “Human Beings.” Genesis 5:1-2 (GNB)

2. We believe that gender and sexuality is a gift from God.

“That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring…”Acts 17:27-28 (KJV)

“Jesus answered, “This teaching does not apply to everyone, but only to those to whom God has given it. For there are different reasons why men cannot marry: some, because they were born that way; others, because men made them that way; and others do not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this teaching do so.”  Matthew 19:11-12 (GNB)

3. We believe that homosexuality is not a sin in the context of a loving, committed, responsible, monogamous and spiritual relationship.

“And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul…” I Samuel 18:1-4 (KJV)

“And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul…” I Samuel 20:17 (KJV)

“And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. nd Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city…” I Samuel 20:41-42 (KJV)

“I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women…” 2 Samuel 1:26 (KJV)

4. We believe that homosexuality is a sin in the context of prostitution, rape, promiscuity, power play, does not respect one’s partner and other unloving acts.

“You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible!…” I Corinthians 5:15 (GNB)

“Marriage is to be honored by all, and husbands and wives must be faithful to each other. God will judge those who are immoral and those who commit adultery…” Hebrews 13:14 (GNB)

“What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions; in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups; they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God…” Galatians 5:19-21 (GNB)

5. We believe that homosexuality can be live out in a just and a holy life.

“Jesus answered, “This teaching does not apply to everyone, but only to those to whom God has given it. For there are different reasons why men cannot marry: some, because they were born that way; others, because men made them that way; and others do not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this teaching do so.”  Matthew 19:11-12 (GNB)

“The scripture says, “Be holy because I am holy.” I Peter 1:16 (GNB)

6. We believe that homosexuality is not a sickness as proven by scientific studies.

“Jesus answered them, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick…” Luke 5:31 (GNB)

7. We believe that homosexuality cannot be changed by religious conversion or any psychiatric therapy.

“But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God’s will?” But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use…” Romans 9:19-21 (GNB)

“God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone…” Acts 17: 24-25 (GNB)

8. We believe that homosexual persons can be ordained in any position inside the Church guided that they have passed all the criteria that a particular denomination adheres to.

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you…” John 15:16 (KJV)

9. We believe that homosexual persons can be a valuable asset to society as a whole.

“Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody…” Romans 12:!8 (GNB)

10. We believe that homosexuals persons can be save by grace through their faith and commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life…” John 3:16 (KJV)

11. We believe that discrimination against homosexuals is a sin.

“He said to them, “You yourselves know very well that a Jew is not allowed by his religion to visit or associate with Gentiles. But God has shown me that I must not consider any person ritually unclean or defiled…” Acts 10:28

“So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus…” Galatians 3:28 (KJV)

12. We believe that homosexuals have all the rights to form relationships and that relationships should be celebrated, affirmed and blessed in the Rite of Holy Union.

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken…” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (KJV)

“But Ruth answered, “Don’t ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the LORD’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!” Ruth 1:16-17 (GNB)

Aside from our church’s position on homosexuality we also believe and adhere to the Statement of Koinonia made by Bishop John Shelby Spong, retired Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Spong is straight but he loves the LGBT community and supports and defends their rights.

A Statement in Koinonia by Bishop John Shelby Spong, of the Episcopal Church

August 25, 1994

To the Members of the House of Bishops and through them to the whole Church:

We the undersigned bishops want to thank the committee that created the . That document in its various drafts forced the whole church to wrestle with issues that affect vitally the lives and hopes of a sizable group of the members of this church. This document also makes our faith community better able to deal with the subject of human sexuality around which there has been great fear, great misunderstanding, great misinformation, and great prejudice.
We also value the collegiality of this House of Bishops and want to continue the mutual respect for our differences that is certainly part of the meaning of collegiality.

We are aware, however, that this Convention by various resolutions has taken stands before on very emotional subjects such as capital punishment and abortion and has called this church to various boycotts of products to achieve what the majority believed was a moral agenda. On the role and place of women in the total life of this church, this body has spoken by amending the Constitution and Canons to give the decision of General Convention the force of law. We are also aware that even with these official actions no one has suggested that those who hold contrary opinions are somehow violating the collegiality of this house or that they were not welcome to continue to bear witness and indeed to act on their consciences in these matters. Collegiality has meant that we have agreed to respect each other and to live with our differences. It has never been a strait jacket that we forced to wear in order to pretend that a consensus existed where in fact one did not exist.

In the discussion on the Pastoral Teaching on Human Sexuality we heard hints that collegiality was being interpreted in a more restrictive way. Perhaps even more importantly we heard voices of discouragement from some members of our Christian family, who had begun to trust that their church would share with them more of God’s love and less of the church’s judgment. This discouragement was produced primarily by press reports attempting to interpret the meaning of the action of this house in adopting the amended statement. It seems to hinge on the decision of this house to circulate with the committee’s document a statement produced by a group of bishops from the Southwest. This perception has had the effect of tilting the carefully crafted work of the committee back to a place where some members of our church no longer feel included, where those living in non-traditional relationships might no longer expect to find a place or a welcome in the Body of Christ and where gay and lesbian clergy might question whether or not their gifts are still wanted by the church they love.

It is for those reasons we feel that this statement must also be made from a different perspective to this Convention and to the whole church as a part of the dialogue lest anyone think consensus has in fact been reached on the issues, or that there is no change occurring in this vital area of our life.

We believe that sex is a gift of God.

We believe that some of us are created heterosexual and some of us are created homosexual.

We believe that homosexuality and heterosexuality are morally neutral, that both can be lived out with beauty, honor, holiness, and integrity and that both are capable of being lived out destructively.

We believe that wherever sexuality is lived out destructively this church must witness to it negatively. We oppose all forms of promiscuous sex, sex that does not honor one’s partner or that does not hold that partner in commitment and love.

We believe that marriage is to be held in honor and that marriage represents that highest form of human commitment that a man and a woman can make to each other. We believe that through marriage both the husband and wife are called to holiness.

We believe that celibacy is an honorable vocation for some of God’s people and that those who have chosen to live in celibacy for whatever reason have gifts to give that will enrich both the church and the social order.

But we also believe that those who know themselves to be gay or lesbian persons, and who do not choose to live alone, but forge relationships with partners of their choice that are faithful, monogamous, committed, life giving and holy are to be honored. We will continue to relate to these couples with our support, our pastoral care, our prayers and our recognitions, in whatever form is deemed appropriate, that God is indeed present in their life together.

We also believe that the ordained ranks of the church are open to all baptized Christians and that through our regular screening process, we will determine who is both called and qualified. We are aware of the presence in the church of gay and lesbian clergy. We bear witness to the fact that they have served and continue to serve this church with effectiveness and integrity. Some of them are single, many more of them are living in committed partnerships. They serve this church today as bishops, priests, and deacons. In all these orders they have won the respect of their ecclesial communities. Like the gay and lesbian population as a whole, many of our gay and lesbian clergy have gravitated into urban areas, where they live out their priestly vocations. In some urban areas the number of gay and lesbian people exceeds thirty-five per cent of the total population. These gay and lesbian clergy work heroically and successfully in difficult assignments. By their willingness to accept and acknowledge their own sexual orientation and by the very witness of the committed nature of the lives they live with their partners, they have brought both the hope and love of Christ to communities of people long oppressed, long denigrated, and long judged by various religious authorities as inadequate human beings in whom the image of God is somehow flawed.

We pledge to these clergy, whom we honor as part of this church, our support and protection and we will continue to hold them to no standard higher than that we would hold any heterosexual priest whether he or she be single or married.

We also recognize that by canon law the choice of fit persons to serve in the ordained ranks of the church is not the prerogative of bishops alone, but of the whole church.

We pledge ourselves to ordain only those persons whom the testing and screening process reveals to be wholesome examples to the flock of Christ. But let there be no misunderstanding, our lives and our experience as bishops have convinced us that a wholesome example to the flock of Christ does not exclude a person of homosexual orientation nor does it exclude those homosexual persons who choose to live our their sexual orientation in a partnership that is marked by faithfulness and life giving holiness.

We want this house and the whole church to know that we can be faithful to Christ and to our ministries as bishops in no other way that by affirming these principles. We trust this dialogue on human sexuality will go on for all of us have more to learn. But we make these comments publicly not just to prevent future misunderstanding in this house, but also to send a message of hope to a significant part of the Body of Christ, that in our own inadequate way we try to represent.

Signed by the following bishops:
Anderson, Robert
Barrett, George
Bartlett, Allen
Barton, Lane
Bates, George
Bennison, Charles
Blanchard, Roger
Borsch, Frederick
Burgess, John
Burrill, William
Burt, John
Cadigan, George
Carranza-G., Sergio
Charles, Otis
Charleston, Steven
Cochran, David
Cole, Ned
Corrigan, Daniel
Dennis, Walter
Dewitt, Robert
Dixon, Jane
Donovan, Herbert
Doss, Joe
Eastman, A.
Folwell, William
Grew, J.
Griswold, Frank
Gulick, Edwin
Hampton, Sanford
Harris, Barbara
Hopkins, Harold
Hunt, George
Jelinek, James
Johnson, David
Jones, Edward
Kimsey, Rustin
Krumm, John
Lee, Edward
Marmion, SW
Maze, Larry
McGehee, Coleman
McKelvey, Jack
McLeod, Mary
Montgomery, James
Ottley, James
Pettit, Vincent
Primo, Quinland
Ramos, Jose
Ray, Thomas
Reus-Froylan, F.
Richards, David
Shimpfky, Richard
Sims, Bennett
Spears, Robert
Spong, John
Swenson, Daniel
Swing, William
Talton, Chester
Terry, Frank
Theuner, Douglas
Trelease, Richard
Vest, Frank
Walker, Orris
Wallace, Leigh
Walmsley, Arthur
Wiedrich, William
Wolf, Fred
Wood, Stewart
(a number of other bishops have signed since the document was published)