The Scottish Episcopal Church has voted to allow same-sex marriages.
Needing a two-thirds majority to pass, 80 percent of the church’s bishops and laity voted in favour of the change as well as 68 percent of the clergy.
“I am very pleased for the couples who can now have their relationships recognised by the church and blessed by God,” the Episcopal Church’s Bishop of Edinburgh, the Right Reverend Dr. John Armes, said in an interview with BBC.
The vote amended church rules to remove the stipulation that marriage must be between a man and a woman. It also includes a conscience clause stating that priests may refuse to marry a same-sex couple.
