Pastor refuses to re-marry divorcees

Three of a kind now in the same church in Kolding.

At Kristkirken in Kolding the parish council have just appointed a third pastor to join the other two who refuse to re-marry divorcees for theological reasons: divorcees have already promised in the sight of God to live with a partner until death do them part and this is a promise they cannot renege on or repeat.

 

A right to re-marry in church?
There are some 10,000 church members in the Kristkirken parish who have democratically voted in a council that rejects the practice of re-marrying divorcees, despite the general public attitude that remarriage is now more or less a right (the divorce rate is 40%) and that those who pay their taxes to the church can expect to make use of its services. However, the new pastor, Per Damgaard Pedersen, is supported by a unanimous parish council and is within his legal rights to refuse re-marriage. Indeed, a survey by the Christian Daily in 2006 (the latest figures) revealed that there were 81 out of some 2000 parish priests who were against remarriage of divorcees.

 

In advertising for the vacant post the parish council’s first request was for a pastor “who takes the words of the Bible seriously.” Despite the Bishop of Haderslev recommending that the parish appoint  a pastor with a different theology from the other two, Pastor Per Damgaard Pedersen was the council’s choice. Their chair, Karen Larsen, tells Jydske Vestkysten that “Per is such an exciting acquaintance that we couldn’t allow him to go elsewhere. So it’s of less importance for us that he won’t re-marry divorcees. Couples can always get another pastor to come and marry them in our church.”

 

More of the same on the way
Among the many responses from politicians was the claim by Socialist People’s Party, Pernille Vigsoe Bagge that the parish council in question is out of step with its members and that the election procedure needs to be reformed, while Conservative MP Charlotte Dyremose sees the appointment as a "wake-up call" for parish democracy. More people should involve themselves in church matters and get themselves elected onto the parish council.

 

According to Professor of Law, Religion and Society, Lisbet Christoffersen, there will in future be more, rather than fewer, pastors with the same attitude: “Two of the institutions that train pastors, The Lutheran School of Theology in Aarhus and the Danish Bible Institute, encourage their trainee pastors not to re-marry divorcees or to perform any church functions for homosexuals. There are more of these pastors on their way out into the churches ,” she says to Ritzau News Agency.

By: Edward Broadbridge

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