Policies on Homosexuality and Same-Sex Marriage

After we posted “A Church Statement on Human Sexuality,” we were asked if there were some actual policies that had been adopted by local churches. We have compiled a few, and with the permission of those local churches we are making them available.

Our posting them does not entail an official EFCA endorsement. This is intended to be another resource for other EFCA pastors and churches, reaping fruit that was born by other churches. Drafting statements like this takes careful and prayerful thought and time. It is a blessing to have the fruit of the labor of others, who joyfully share it you.

You will note that the examples are of various genre – papers, policies, and by-laws. It is clear that each does something different, and that each has certain strengths and weaknesses. While these are helpful in their own right and for their original purpose, none is definitive, as that document does not and would not exist! But they can be used as helpful examples as you consider adopting a policy in your local church.

The EFCA does not give a definitive imprimatur to any of them, and neither do we make a statement about where it would be best to include such statements, be it in the by-laws, a policy statement or a white paper. We, and the churches who wrote them, offer them as an example and an additional resource as you seek to be faithful to the Lord and His Word during these days in which virtually every aspect of biblical sexuality is being challenged.