The Church of Scotland has voted to allow same-sex marriages after recent warnings that its historical opposition had increased the church's decline toward irrelevance, The Guardian reported.
The church's general assembly voted 274-136 to allow its ministers and deacons to opt in to officiate at same-sex weddings, ending a centuries-old ban.
Some ministers said within minutes of the vote that they had immediately applied to be registered to carry out same-sex weddingsincluding the Rev. James Bissett, a chaplain to the Royal Air Force's air cadets.
The vote makes the Church of Scotland the largest church in the United Kingdom to allow same-sex marriages, increasing the split within the Protestant faith. It has already allowed gay and lesbian ministers to marry.