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Hello,

I am writing this today to hopefully give some much needed context to a story that has been told for us without any input or understanding for who Myles and I are as people or what our relationship with Paige and Elizabeth is. See, I met Paige on the very first day I moved to Mississippi to start my undergrad program at Millsaps college, where she was an associate chaplain. I come from a very complicated religious background and so was wary of meeting someone whose primary role was a religious one.

However, throughout my first few courses at Millsaps I kept running into huge questions about faith and life and the bigger meaning behind it all, and, inevitably, I ended up in a chair in Paige and Elizabeth’s offices pouring all these questions out in search for some answers. These talks were where my relationship with Paige and Elizabeth, but more importantly my relationship with God truly transformed. In the span of one semester I  went from someone who thought I would never step foot in a church again due to the harmful messages I had been given about God’s disdain my personal identity, to someone who was active in my local Methodist church, was reading every book I could find on faith and Wesleyan theology, and who was determined to continue to build this community of believers who not only claimed to love the Lord, but who showed that love time and time again through the ways in which we cared for each other and our neighbors.

When I met my partner, Myles, introducing them to Paige, Elizabeth, and the Wesley community that we were building was a huge step for us. Myles comes from a similar faith background as me and had some of the same hesitations about getting involved with a religious organization, but within one meeting they knew that Wesley was a place where it was safe to bring their whole identity to the table while also striving to develop faith in a God that rejoices in their life and their love. When Myles proposed to me in 2021, there was no doubt in my mind about who we would want to officiate our wedding.

My wedding was absolutely beautiful and we made a commitment on January 7th, to not only love each other well, but to let our love be a reflection of God’s love for us. Paige and Elizabeth served communion during our ceremony, because the beauty of an open table, where we can all break bread together to remember the love and sacrifices made so that we may live in the light of God’s love, is something that has filled me up during my hardest times. For days after our ceremony we had friends and family tell us that the words spoken by Elizabeth and Paige and the clear presence of God during our ceremony gave them hope in the future of the church, and for this to be the church’s response breaks my heart. I share this to say that my wedding was not political, was not an attack on the rules of the church, but was rather a celebration of our love and a celebration of what we know the church can be. I understand what some within our church believe in regards to a marriage like ours, but I also think I understand what God says about a love like ours, and in a world where those don’t always align, I am so grateful to have pastors like Elizabeth and Paige, who stand on the side of love, and on the side of God.

— Matty Cafiero