Historical references in today's service.

(Information given to our guests & order of worship)
Today we are the latest to join a long line of gay men to exchange vows of commitment and union. Today's ceremony includes an ancient prayer for union of same gender couples. It was originally written in Greek that was archaic in the twelfth century. It has been rendered into Elizabethan English to capture the solemnity of the original. We have included brief biographies of saints mentioned in today's liturgy to help you understand the citations.

Song of Solomon

Eastern cultures like those of the Patriarchs, practiced strict gender segregation. Family members could see each other more freely. Brother/sister often meant a romantic / marital relationship rather than a strictly familial tie.

The Ethiopian Eunuch

Consider first the case of the Ethiopian Eunuch. This is a man that was in charge of the Harem of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. Follow, please, this line of reasoning: Rulers often chose men who were gay to be in charge of their harem. Gay men were a safe choice. The simple act of castration does not remove a man's desire for companionship or orientation. At best it blunts and mutes his sexual desire and drive. Castrated heterosexual men would have posed a risk that gay men, congenitally uninterested in women did not. Men chosen for this duty were usually gay. Chances are great that this man loved men and continued to love men. This first convert to Christianity was in Jerusalem for the Passover. Multiple conditions forbid him from entering the temple or participating fully in worship activities. It is not unreasonable to assume that among these barriers was his physical attraction to his own gender. It was not, however a barrier to the intervention of Holy Spirit in his life, to Phillip's witness to him, or to access to baptism.

The Apostles Phillip and Bartholomew

There is some indication that Phillip the Apostle might have been "family". Although there is scant information available concerning them in the gospels, the apostles Phillip and Bartholomew were widely coupled in the popular imagination among Christians of later centuries. Byzantine legend from the fifth and sixth centuries even depicted their joint martyrdom in the city of Hierapolis.1 While this is certainly not what we know as modern coupling of openly gay men, it does speak of a rich tradition of Solemn Vows and shared lives in a culture that was richly accepting of the joys of the flesh as a blessing from God.

Holy martyrs Serge and Bacchus

By far the most {widely recognized} set of paired saints was Serge and Bacchus. They were Roman soldiers of high standing in the late third / early fourth century who enjoyed such close friendship with the emperor that they were able to have a friend appointed as a provincial governor. They were also Christians, united in their love for each other in a way that recalls the description by Tertullian of a Christian heterosexual married couple. It was then that Serge and Bacchus, like stars shining joyously over the earth, radiating the light of faith in Jesus Christ began to grace the palace.

Being as one in their love for Christ they were also undivided from each other in the army of the world. They were united not in the way of nature, but in the manner of faith, always singing and saying, "behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to abide in oneness.

In time, they provoked the envy of those less favored. The worst that their enemies could think of as a denunciation was that they were Christians, which did indeed provoke the wrath of the emperor. He ordered them to sacrifice to his idols. They refused.

Immediately [on hearing this the emperor] ordered that their belts be cut off, their tunics and all other military garb removed, the gold torcs taken from around their necks, and women's clothing be placed on them. Thus they were to be paraded through the middle of the city to the palace, bearing heavy chains around their necks. Bacchus was then flogged to death. This left his executioners exhausted by the effort. 2 Serge, to whom [the Emperor] Antiochus specifically owed his position was returned to jail.

The Emperor, frustrated by his defeat, ordered that [Bacchus'] remains not be buried, but thrown out and exposed as meat to the dogs, beasts and birds outside the camp. Then he rose and left. When the body was tossed some distance from the camp, a crowd of animals gathered around it. The birds flying above would not allow the bloodthirsty beasts to touch it and kept guard over the corpse throughout the night. Meanwhile the blessed Serge, deeply depressed and heartsick over the loss of Bacchus, wept and cried out, "No longer brother and fellow soldier will we chant together, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to abide in oneness. You have been unyoked from me and gone up to heaven, leaving me alone on earth, now single and without comfort.

After he uttered these things, the same night the blessed Bacchus suddenly appeared to him with a face as radiant as an angel's wearing an officer's uniform and spoke to him. "Why do you grieve and mourn, brother? If I have been taken from you in body, I am still with you in the bond of {Holy} Union, chanting and reciting; 'I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.' Hurry then, yourself, brother, through beautiful and perfect confession to pursue and obtain me, when you have finished the course. For the crown of justice for me is to be with you.

Bacchus promised that if Serge were to follow the Lord he would receive as his reward Bacchus himself. Bacchus promised neither beatific vision, nor the joy of paradise, nor even the crown of martyrdom. This was truly remarkable by the standards of the early church, privileging human affection in a way unparalleled during the first thousand years of Christianity. Moreover, Serge and Bacchus were not biological brothers - and no one ever claimed that they were - so the appellation "brother" must be understood as reflective either of ancient usage in erotic subcultures or as reflecting biblical usage (particularly in Greek versions). Either way it would have distinctly erotic connotations. [See the Song of Solomon] Although it is ambiguous there are hints in this text that Serge and Bacchus maintained a single household: i.e. "their household servants"

Acknowledgments and participants

We wish to thank:
Gene's Attendants
        Walker R	and	Bill M
Charle's Attendants
	Adam M		and	James C
For all the little things they did to make this possible.
We wish to thank
Reverend Margaret Hawk
Reverend John Cantrell
For their ministry of word and Sacrament in our lives and in this ceremony.
(The United Methodist Church hierarchy has specifically forbidden Reverend John Cantrell from participating in today's ceremony.)

We wish to thank H L W for his ministry of song.

We wish to thank
Our families and friends for your presence among us this day. Specifially and especially we thank our children for their participation in the reading of scripture.


We wish to honor
Our Fathers
Evan Royce Baugh Sr. and Gerald Neuendorf for their presence among us this day.

HOLY UNION ORDER

We kindly request that you do not throw rice when we depart the church. This custom is rooted in a prayer for fertility and justly foreign to our union. Instead please blow bubbles.

1 John Boswell, "Same sex unions in Pre modern Europe." Page 160
2 ibid. Page 145. He translates and quotes from a Greek document: "Passio antiquior SS. Sergii et Bachi, Graece nunc primum edita.

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