About 100 people surrounded the House of Assembly this afternoon to pray and demonstrate their opposition to same-sex marriages and civil unions.

The gathering, which was organised by Preserve Marriage, comes less than two weeks before a referendum on the issue is set to take place.

Men, women and children from different churches arrived at the Parliament building just before 6pm. They were handed prayer cards that listed “prayers for today and beyond”, which included praying for “our leaders”, “unity among the churchs” and “marriages in Bermuda”.

Many participants held hands and placed a hand on the outer walls of Parliament as they prayed.

“We are not against the referendum,” Reverend Harold Lamb said. “We are taking a stand against same-sex marriage and civil unions.

“The only reason we are against it is because the Bible is against it. We are praying that on June 23 we will have a positive result and that God’s will, will be done.”

Diane Ming, added: “We are praying for Bermuda. We are encouraging people to love each other and not be afraid to say what you believe and have courage in their convictions.”

In February a similar prayer vigil “for stronger marriages” was held at the same location.

Reverend Charles Smith told The Royal Gazette: “We are praying for the ills of this country and that Government may have a change of heart rather than try to legislate for same-sex marriages and unions. People should vote ‘no’ twice on June 23.”

Minister Allan Hunt said: “We believe a healthy marriage between a man and woman creates healthy families and healthy families create healthy children.

“We are not homophobic, the Church is not homophobic.”

His wife, Mildred Hunt, added: “This is a crisis situation. We have never had a referendum of this kind.

“I never though in my life I would live to see a time when we had to decide whether marriage should be between a man and a woman and between two people of the same sex.