Wedding Story - Patricia Duffett
I attended Jennifer and Ann’s wedding in June of last year. It was a beautiful ceremony and Reverend Kansfield’s words moved me deeply. I am writing this short piece to express my gratitude especially to him, but also to Ann, to Jennifer, and to their family members and friends who showed up that day and bore witness to their commitment to one another. In these times, this is no small thing.

To be honest, I did not expect much from the church service, as I am not a member of any denomination and I have usually associated churches, clergy, and organized religion in general with hypocrisy and intolerance.

During the simple service, I felt a palpable sense of joy coming from everyone in the church. Family members and friends sang and smiled; Ann and Jennifer looked great. As Reverend Kansfield delivered his sermon, I reflected on something a friend had told me a year earlier, when I had been going through a difficult period and struggling with my faith. He said for him, God was love. I had heard those words before, but they never made so much sense to me. Something inside of me changed when he said those three simple words. I felt a sense of hope. I got the same feeling sitting in the church that day. Between Reverend Kansfield’s words and Ann and Jennifer’s vows to each other, I felt and saw the healing, expanding, powerful force of love in action.

But I also felt a heaviness in my heart. I knew that for some people in his church, Reverend Kansfield’s performance of Jennifer and Ann’s marriage ceremony was a controversial act as was their getting married in the first place. This saddens me, but it is my hope that for everyone involved a greater love, a deeper understanding, and a more powerful connection will emerge through this one happy union.

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia Duffett


ecclesia reformata, sed semper reformanda