The Washington National Cathedral, host of President Barack Obama’s prayer service for his second inauguration, will soon marry same-sex couples, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Considered one of the nation’s leading congregations, the 106-year-old cathedral will be among the first Episcopal churches to adopt the new rite, according to the report.
Prominently positioned on Wisconsin Avenue and also the city’s fourth tallest structure, the church draws about a half-million visitors each year.
The cathedral’s dean, Very Rev. Gary Hall, said the move could pave way for change not just in churches, but in communities throughout the country.
“As a kind of tall-steeple, public church in the nation’s capital, by saying we’re going to bless same-sex marriages, conduct same-sex marriages, we are really trying to take the next step for marriage equality in the nation and in the culture,” Hall said in the report.