Emanuel Cleaver: “in 1974, I was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church after having completed 3 years of seminary, 4 years…”

“in 1974, I was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church after having completed 3 years of seminary, 4 years of undergraduate work. I have been pastoring for 32 years. As of today, I have never, ever been asked to perform a wedding between same- sex partners. I do not even know of a minister who has ever been made that request. And so I am not sure how significant this is, except for the fact that I am not here to defend anything except the church. We have people sitting in the gallery and people looking at this broadcast all across America. And the chances are really high that almost 100 percent of them have marriage licenses signed by a member of the clergy, and not a Member of Congress. Marriage was ordained by God, and in all of the weddings the words are read, ``Marriage is an institution by God signifying the uniting of this man and this woman in holy matrimony''. And then we go on to say that, in my tradition, ``Christ adorned and beautified marriage when he performed his first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. {time} 1300 Marriage is sacred. It is holy. It is an institution created by the church. Now, the United States Congress is going to trespass on the property of the church? I am concerned that we have gone too far. Every judicatory or denomination in the world is debating this issue, and it should remain in that domain, not on the floor of Congress.…”