The First State will play host to the first-ever joint ordination of a same-sex couple in the United States. Holly and Kaci Clark-Porter will be ordained as Presbyterian ministers together Sunday at Wilmington's First & Central Presbyterian Church.
The Presbyterian Church voted to allow ordaining gay and lesbian pastors in 2011.
Both women come from conservative towns in Texas and say that coming out allowed them to experience more closeness with God.
"It wasn’t until I started serving here at First & Central that I felt like I really became a pastor. That I was really able to care for people. Because I finally cared for myself, and this community cared for me and accepted me, and accepted my relationship to Holly fully," said Kaci Clark-Porter.
She will serve as associate pastor at First & Central Church in downtown Wilmington. Her wife, Holly Clark-Porter is an evangelist who runs the Big Gay Church, which operates at First & Central.
The two say that even though they are the first official gay couple to receive this honor, many have come before them.
"We feel so grateful for the shoulders we stand on. I have so many people that I know who have never even, as single people, been given this opportunity, simply because of their sexuality," said Holly Clark-Porter.
Sunday's ordination ceremony is at 3pm at First & Central.