The following resolution was introduced and passed during the 2015 General Conference Sessions. Your church is encouraged to contact your liability insurance provider and to examine its own documents and policies concerning same sex unions. 

WHEREAS, God in His divine wisdom created and intended marriage to be the covenanted, conjugal union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:18–24; Matthew 19:4–6; Hebrews 13:4); and

WHEREAS, Seventh Day Baptists through action at their General Conference sessions in 2003 and 2004 strongly affirmed “that the Divinely instituted union of marriage is solely between a man and a woman.”; and

WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that states shall be required to grant legal recognition as “marriages” to same-sex partnerships; and

WHEREAS, The redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples is apt to continue to erode the religious liberty and rights of conscience of all who remain faithful to the idea of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife; and

WHEREAS, The Bible affirms the value of all human beings as “created in His image” and calls us to love our neighbors, including those who disagree with us about the definition of marriage; now, therefore,

LET IT BE RESOLVED, That the delegates to the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference session in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 26-August 1, 2015, continue to “strongly affirm that the Divinely instituted union of marriage is solely between a man and a woman.”

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, That the religious liberty of individual citizens or institutions should not be infringed as a result of believing or living according to the biblical definition of marriage;

LET IT BE FINALLY RESOLVED, That Seventh Day Baptists love our neighbors and extend respect in Christ’s name to all people, including those who may disagree with us about the definition of marriage.