Victoria Methodist Church was delighted to host the wedding of Holly Lerchundi Willis and Pippa Haggitt on Saturday October 8th. It was the first wedding for a same-sex couple to have taken place in the Church, and indeed within the wider Bristol and South Gloucestershire Methodist Circuit.

“It means a huge amount to us that we are able to get married before God,” the couple said, “and that Victoria Methodist has welcomed us with open arms. We are so grateful for the support and positivity we’ve received. It’s a double celebration for us and the church! Being Christians and part of the LGBT community, it was really important to us to get married in a church amongst a community where we felt we belonged.”

Church Minister, Rev Richard Sharples, commented: “I have waited 30 years for this day, and feel privileged and delighted to have been able to enable Pippa and Holly to commit themselves to one another in a Methodist Church. The Methodist people of the UK continue on our pilgrimage of faith, through which we journey together despite not always agreeing with one another.”

In June 2021, the Methodist Conference (the Church’s governing body) gave local Churches permission to register for same-sex weddings as well as mixed-sex weddings. Of the approximately 40 Churches in this local Circuit, a handful have now chosen to do so. The couple added: “We hope that this is the beginning of many more same sex marriages to be conducted at Victoria and that it inspires other churches to also offer same sex weddings.”