Belief
Biblical marriage is a covenant relationship between one man and one woman who are devoted to one another for life. This is God’s design and we are committed to upholding it. Any deviation from this original design is sin—deviations such as pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexuality, polygamy, etc.
• We’re convinced that divorce is ultimately the result of hardness of heart. So, we will encourage couples to fight for their marriages, understanding that God allows for divorce in certain cases.
• God created human beings in His own image as male and female; accordingly, God alone assigns our gender.
• Everything about us—including our sexuality—has been devastated by sin’s pervasive effect on us. Whatever the source of our sexual sin—whether through personal choice, environment, or natural inclination—it is the result of our sinful nature and far from what God has intended.
Each of us is a sinner saved only by God’s grace through Jesus. With this reality always in mind, we’re called to extend love toward those who struggle with sexual identity and/or a specific sexual sin. We believe the Gospel reaches, redeems and transforms everyone who embraces the forgiveness of Jesus, regardless of the nature of his sin. Therefore, we are to follow Jesus’ example by being full of both grace and truth as we engage our culture with the hope of the Gospel.
Genesis 1:26-27; 2:24-25; 3:1-24; 5;1-2; 9:6; Matthew 19:1-9; John 1:17-18; Romans 1:18-27; 3:10-18, 23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 7:1-16
Statement
We believe that because God our Creator established marriage as a sacred institution between one man and one woman, the idea that marriage is a covenant only between one man and one woman has been the traditional definition of marriage for all of human history (“Traditional Definition of Marriage”). Because of the longstanding importance of the Traditional Definition of Marriage to humans and their relationships and communities, and, most importantly, the fact that God has ordained that marriage be between one man and one woman, as clearly conveyed in God’s inerrant Scriptures, including for example in Matthew 19:4-6 where in speaking about marriage Jesus referred to the fact that “he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,” the Church hereby creates this policy, which shall be known as the “Marriage Policy.”
Under this Church’s Marriage Policy, the Traditional Definition of Marriage is the only definition of marriage that will be recognized or accepted. No director, officer, employee, servant, agent or any person, corporation, organization, or entity under the direction or control of this Church shall commit any act or omission, or make any decision whatever, that would be inconsistent with, or that could be perceived by any person to be inconsistent with, full support of this Church’s Marriage Policy and strict adherence to the Traditional Definition of Marriage rather than any alternative to the Traditional Definition of Marriage.
This Church’s Marriage Policy specifically prohibits acts or omissions including but not limited to permitting any Church assets or property, whether real property, personal property, intangible property, or any property or asset of any kind that is subject to the direction or control of the Church, to be used in any manner that would be or could be perceived by any person to be inconsistent with this Church’s Marriage Policy or the Traditional Definition of Marriage, including but not limited to permitting any church facilities to be used by any person, organization, corporation, or group that would or might use such facilities to convey, intentionally or by implication, what might be perceived as a favorable impression about any definition of marriage other than the Traditional Definition of Marriage.
We believe this Church’s Marriage Policy is based upon God’s will for human life as conveyed to us through the Holy Scriptures, upon which this Church has been founded and anchored, and this Marriage Policy shall not be subject to change through popular vote; referendum; prevailing opinion of members or the general public; influence of or interpretation by any government authority, agency, or official action; or legal developments on the local, state, or federal level.