The Church of England would not allow her to take the funeral because she is married to a woman.
Mpho Tutu van Furth married her wife, Marceline, in December 2015, and was subsequently forced to give up her permission to officiate as a priest in South Africa.
The Church of England does not permit its clergy to be in a same-sex marriage because its official teaching is that marriage is only between one man and one woman. However its sister Anglican church in the US, The Episcopal Church, does allow clergy to enter into gay marriages. "We urgently need to make space for conscience, space for pastoral care, and space for love," he said.After Mr Kenyon's family was told of the Church's decision, they moved the funeral service from St Michael and All Angels in Wentnor, near Bishops Castle, to a marquee in the vicarage next door so Ms Tutu van Furth could officiate and preach.
He told the puzzled American reporter that he hoped not to have the "bug" now because he had grand-daughters, adding "there's no point in dying when I've lived this long, is there?"Ms Tutu van Furth was forced to give her up right to officiate as a priest in South Africa after she married Marceline van Furth, a Dutch academic, in 2015.
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