SEPARATION
MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY
As a church, we believe that "marriage" has only one meaning, and that is marriage sanctioned by God, which joins one man and one woman together in a single, exclusive union, "till death parts them", as described in the Word of God. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in by a man or a woman outside of the scriptural bonds of marriage. We believe that any form of sexual immorality such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography, or any attempt to change one's sex, or disagreement with one's biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God Almighty, who created everyone in His own image. We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of the Church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a Biblical role model to the Church members and to the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the Church in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers in any capacity, should abide by, and agree with, the Church's Doctrinal Statement on Marriage and Sexuality, and conduct themselves accordingly. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed towards any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with the Scriptures or with the Doctrinal Statement of this church (Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:18-25, Genesis 18-20, Genesis 19:4-7, Leviticus 18:22-23, Leviticus 20:13, Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:7, Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9-11).