2015 "Board of General Superintendents releases statement on same-sex marriage"
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Urgent Release
Please forward
Board of General Superintendents Releases Statement on Same-sex Marriage
Societies across the globe are engaged in conversations to redefine marriage. Media debates, election-day balloting, and governmental court rulings have provided the platform for this redefinition. We believe a biblical view of marriage involves a monogamous, covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. Jesus said, "At the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Matthew 19:4-6NIV).
Today the United States Supreme Court, in the 5-4 decision of Obergefell v. Hodges, legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. We remind our people that while the civil law of yet another country has changed, divine truth has not changed. We will learn how this civil definition functions within the context of our constitutional and religious freedoms. Our commitment to the orthodox biblical Christian faith remains the same. We continue to call Nazarenes around the world to a life of holiness, characterized by holy love and expressed through the most rigorous and consistent lifestyle of sexual purity. We further call our people to a generosity and graciousness of spirit that extends kindness to those who do not share our belief. We pray that God will help us be examples of His truth in a world that needs to see God's love demonstrated in word and deed more than ever.
Jerry D. Porter
J. K. Warrick
Eugénio R. Duarte
David W. Graves
David A. Busic
Gustavo A. Crocker
Board of General Superintendents
Church of the Nazarene
For further reading from the National Association of Evangelicals, see the following articles:
"Supreme Court Redefines Marriage"
PRESS RELEASE
Supreme Court Redefines Marriage
Friday, JUNE 26, 2015
In the 5-4 decision of Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) regrets the court’s shift away from the historic understanding of marriage, but recognizes that the truth about marriage has not changed.
“At the beginning of the Bible, God defined marriage. In the New Testament, Jesus described marriage. Neither asked the Supreme Court for a new definition or description,” said Leith Anderson, NAE president.
The NAE today released a statement about marriage in light of the court’s redefinition, which says in part:
Nothing in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges opinion changes the truth about marriage. What has changed is the legal definition of marriage, which is now at variance with orthodox biblical faith as it has been affirmed across the centuries and as it is embraced today by nearly two billion Christians in every nation on earth.
Anderson said, “As evangelicals, we look to the Bible — not the courts — for guidance on life. Marriage is a God-ordained, covenant relationship between a man and a woman. May this court decision be a clarion call to American evangelicals to proclaim and exhibit the good news about biblical marriage.”
The NAE recognizes that governments at times adopt policies that do not align with biblical values. However, those policies should not require those who follow the clear teachings of the Bible to change their beliefs or practices.
Anderson said, “As we respect a legal ruling with which we do not agree, we ask others to respect our faith and practices even when they disagree with us.”
The NAE calls on evangelicals to be gracious and compassionate to those who do not share their views on marriage and to also advocate for liberty for all who desire to live out their faith. The NAE calls on Congress to enact laws, on the president to implement policies, and on the courts to render judgments that uphold the freedom and human rights of all Americans.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Urgent Release
Please forward
Board of General Superintendents Releases Statement on Same-sex Marriage
Societies across the globe are engaged in conversations to redefine marriage. Media debates, election-day balloting, and governmental court rulings have provided the platform for this redefinition. We believe a biblical view of marriage involves a monogamous, covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. Jesus said, "At the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Matthew 19:4-6NIV).
Today the United States Supreme Court, in the 5-4 decision of Obergefell v. Hodges, legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. We remind our people that while the civil law of yet another country has changed, divine truth has not changed. We will learn how this civil definition functions within the context of our constitutional and religious freedoms. Our commitment to the orthodox biblical Christian faith remains the same. We continue to call Nazarenes around the world to a life of holiness, characterized by holy love and expressed through the most rigorous and consistent lifestyle of sexual purity. We further call our people to a generosity and graciousness of spirit that extends kindness to those who do not share our belief. We pray that God will help us be examples of His truth in a world that needs to see God's love demonstrated in word and deed more than ever.
Jerry D. Porter
J. K. Warrick
Eugénio R. Duarte
David W. Graves
David A. Busic
Gustavo A. Crocker
Board of General Superintendents
Church of the Nazarene
For further reading from the National Association of Evangelicals, see the following articles:
"Supreme Court Redefines Marriage"
PRESS RELEASE
Supreme Court Redefines Marriage
Friday, JUNE 26, 2015
In the 5-4 decision of Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) regrets the court’s shift away from the historic understanding of marriage, but recognizes that the truth about marriage has not changed.
“At the beginning of the Bible, God defined marriage. In the New Testament, Jesus described marriage. Neither asked the Supreme Court for a new definition or description,” said Leith Anderson, NAE president.
The NAE today released a statement about marriage in light of the court’s redefinition, which says in part:
Nothing in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges opinion changes the truth about marriage. What has changed is the legal definition of marriage, which is now at variance with orthodox biblical faith as it has been affirmed across the centuries and as it is embraced today by nearly two billion Christians in every nation on earth.
Anderson said, “As evangelicals, we look to the Bible — not the courts — for guidance on life. Marriage is a God-ordained, covenant relationship between a man and a woman. May this court decision be a clarion call to American evangelicals to proclaim and exhibit the good news about biblical marriage.”
The NAE recognizes that governments at times adopt policies that do not align with biblical values. However, those policies should not require those who follow the clear teachings of the Bible to change their beliefs or practices.
Anderson said, “As we respect a legal ruling with which we do not agree, we ask others to respect our faith and practices even when they disagree with us.”
The NAE calls on evangelicals to be gracious and compassionate to those who do not share their views on marriage and to also advocate for liberty for all who desire to live out their faith. The NAE calls on Congress to enact laws, on the president to implement policies, and on the courts to render judgments that uphold the freedom and human rights of all Americans.
"God Defined Marriage"
LETTER/STATEMENT
God Defined Marriage
Friday, JUNE 26, 2015
God designed marriage for humanity. As first described in Genesis and later affirmed by Jesus, marriage is a God-ordained, covenant relationship between a man and a woman. This lifelong, sexually exclusive relationship brings children into the world and thus sustains the stewardship of the earth. Biblical marriage — marked by faithfulness, sacrificial love and joy — displays the relationship between God and his people.[1]
While commentators, politicians and judges may revise their understanding of marriage in response to shifting societal trends, followers of Jesus should embrace his clear vision of marriage found in Matthew 19:4-6:
“Haven’t you read,” Jesus replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Nothing in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges opinion changes the truth about marriage. What has changed is the legal definition of marriage, which is now at variance with orthodox biblical faith as it has been affirmed across the centuries and as it is embraced today by nearly two billion Christians in every nation on earth.
In its role as a moral teacher, the law now misleads Americans about the true nature of marriage. Evangelicals and other followers of the Bible have a heightened opportunity to demonstrate the attractiveness of loving Christian marriages and families. Evangelicals should renew their commitment to the sacrificial love and covenantal faithfulness to which Jesus calls all husbands and wives.
As witnesses to the truth, evangelicals should be gracious and compassionate to those who do not share their views on marriage. Those who continue to embrace biblical teaching on marriage will increasingly appeal to the First Amendment protection not just for abstract belief, but for the practice of their faith. The National Association of Evangelicals calls on Congress to enact laws, on the president to implement policies, and on the courts to render judgments that uphold the freedom and human rights of all Americans.
[1] Theology of Sex (Washington, DC: National Association of Evangelicals, 2012), 10.
Download a PDF version of this statement.
Council of Bishops President Issues Statement on Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Bishop Warner H, Brown, President of the Council of Bishops
(Photo courtesy of CNUMC.org)
Bishop Warner H. Brown Jr., president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, issued a statement early this morning responding to the decision by the United States Supreme Court that same-sex marriage is a protected right under the U.S. Constitution.
In his statement (printed in full below), Brown recognizes the ongoing division in the United Methodist Church on same-sex marriage, and notes that the issue will be revisited again at the 2016 GeneralConference. “Across the spectrum, many believe our policy impacts our ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” Brown wrote. “We seek to be a church that is inclusive enough to hold together people of different cultures, languages, and traditions.”
Brown reaffirmed the statement in the Social Principles of the United Methodist Book of Discipline that all people are of sacred worth, created in the image of God and that all persons “…need the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self.”
“This Supreme Court decision calls attention to the difference between the laws of the United States, and the policy of our church,” Brown wrote. “The law does not require anyone to violate their conscience of what God has called them to do, or their theological understanding. But, if we seek to be an inclusive church that serves all of our parishioners, and all of our neighbors, we will have to consider how we treat all people equally.”
In his conclusion, Brown quoted Alice Stokes Paul, a women’s rights activist and suffragist leader, on the nature of equality. “I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction,” Paul wrote. “Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.”
Brown became the president of the Council of Bishops in November of 2014. Brown is currently assigned as the bishop of the San Francisco Episcopal Area.
Brown’s statement is a personal statement regarding the Supreme Court ruling and is not an official statement from the Council of Bishops.
Bishop Brown’s Statement:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Mark 12:31 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Throughout the history of the United States, the Supreme Court has been called on to ensure equality, liberty, and justice for all people. This can be seen in the abolition of slavery, the women’s movement, the civil rights movement of the 60s, and now in the fight for marriage equality.
Today, in a 5 to 4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality for all people.
For decades, The United Methodist Church has debated this issue. Next year when General Conference gathers in Portland, Oregon, the decision to change, or reaffirm the church’s historic position will be considered. Pastors and congregations within our denomination hold opinions across the spectrum of this decision. Some sincerely believe our church policy is correct as it is. Others believe it is not correct. Across the spectrum, many believe our policy impacts our ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We seek to be a church that is inclusive enough to hold together people of different cultures, languages, and traditions.
In our Social Principles, United Methodists have stated our common belief around this value: We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self.
This Supreme Court decision calls attention to the difference between the laws of the United States, and the policy of our church. The law does not require anyone to violate their conscience of what God has called them to do, or their theological understanding. But, if we seek to be an inclusive church that serves all of our parishioners, and all of our neighbors, we will have to consider how we treat all people equally. The heart of our call to ministry is to be pastor to the people of the congregation, and the community, we serve. May wecontinue to be a people of prayer, and hope, as we work towards a day of equality and inclusion for all people created in the image of God.
Alice Stokes Paul, women’s rights activist and leader in getting women the right to vote says, “I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction. Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.”
Grace and Peace,
Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr.
President, Council of Bishops
The Africa Journal of Wesleyan Theology, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2014
This journal of pastoral theology targets those serving in the African context and regions of the Global South that have significant cultural convergence with Africa. It features writers who resonate with the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition of Christianity, and combines sound scholarship with insights from the practice of ministry.
Table of Contents
“Ancestral Cult and the Church in Africa” by Rev Gift Mtukwa
“A Quest for an African Christian Marriage” by Rev Mashangu "Harry" Maluleka
“What of Homosexuality? A South African Nazarene Pastor’s Response” by Rev Dr Patrick Thomas
“Polygamy: Can the Church Live with it?” by Rev Daphne Mathebula
“The Christus Victor in Africa” by Rev Daniel A.K.L. Gomis
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Download the complete journal in PDF 875.17 KB
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Additional Information
Copyright Information
LanguageEnglish
Type: Complete journal
Published Date: March 2014
Title of Periodical: The Africa Journal of Wesleyan Theology
Volume number: 1
Issue Number:
1- See more at: https://www.whdl.org/content/africa-journal-wesleyan-theology-volume-1-number-1-march-2014#sthash.nJdbo8DV.dpuf
Asia-Pacific Regional Communications
LETTER/STATEMENT
God Defined Marriage
Friday, JUNE 26, 2015
God designed marriage for humanity. As first described in Genesis and later affirmed by Jesus, marriage is a God-ordained, covenant relationship between a man and a woman. This lifelong, sexually exclusive relationship brings children into the world and thus sustains the stewardship of the earth. Biblical marriage — marked by faithfulness, sacrificial love and joy — displays the relationship between God and his people.[1]
While commentators, politicians and judges may revise their understanding of marriage in response to shifting societal trends, followers of Jesus should embrace his clear vision of marriage found in Matthew 19:4-6:
“Haven’t you read,” Jesus replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Nothing in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges opinion changes the truth about marriage. What has changed is the legal definition of marriage, which is now at variance with orthodox biblical faith as it has been affirmed across the centuries and as it is embraced today by nearly two billion Christians in every nation on earth.
In its role as a moral teacher, the law now misleads Americans about the true nature of marriage. Evangelicals and other followers of the Bible have a heightened opportunity to demonstrate the attractiveness of loving Christian marriages and families. Evangelicals should renew their commitment to the sacrificial love and covenantal faithfulness to which Jesus calls all husbands and wives.
As witnesses to the truth, evangelicals should be gracious and compassionate to those who do not share their views on marriage. Those who continue to embrace biblical teaching on marriage will increasingly appeal to the First Amendment protection not just for abstract belief, but for the practice of their faith. The National Association of Evangelicals calls on Congress to enact laws, on the president to implement policies, and on the courts to render judgments that uphold the freedom and human rights of all Americans.
[1] Theology of Sex (Washington, DC: National Association of Evangelicals, 2012), 10.
Download a PDF version of this statement.
Council of Bishops President Issues Statement on Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Bishop Warner H, Brown, President of the Council of Bishops
(Photo courtesy of CNUMC.org)
Bishop Warner H. Brown Jr., president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, issued a statement early this morning responding to the decision by the United States Supreme Court that same-sex marriage is a protected right under the U.S. Constitution.
In his statement (printed in full below), Brown recognizes the ongoing division in the United Methodist Church on same-sex marriage, and notes that the issue will be revisited again at the 2016 GeneralConference. “Across the spectrum, many believe our policy impacts our ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” Brown wrote. “We seek to be a church that is inclusive enough to hold together people of different cultures, languages, and traditions.”
Brown reaffirmed the statement in the Social Principles of the United Methodist Book of Discipline that all people are of sacred worth, created in the image of God and that all persons “…need the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self.”
“This Supreme Court decision calls attention to the difference between the laws of the United States, and the policy of our church,” Brown wrote. “The law does not require anyone to violate their conscience of what God has called them to do, or their theological understanding. But, if we seek to be an inclusive church that serves all of our parishioners, and all of our neighbors, we will have to consider how we treat all people equally.”
In his conclusion, Brown quoted Alice Stokes Paul, a women’s rights activist and suffragist leader, on the nature of equality. “I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction,” Paul wrote. “Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.”
Brown became the president of the Council of Bishops in November of 2014. Brown is currently assigned as the bishop of the San Francisco Episcopal Area.
Brown’s statement is a personal statement regarding the Supreme Court ruling and is not an official statement from the Council of Bishops.
Bishop Brown’s Statement:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Mark 12:31 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Throughout the history of the United States, the Supreme Court has been called on to ensure equality, liberty, and justice for all people. This can be seen in the abolition of slavery, the women’s movement, the civil rights movement of the 60s, and now in the fight for marriage equality.
Today, in a 5 to 4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality for all people.
For decades, The United Methodist Church has debated this issue. Next year when General Conference gathers in Portland, Oregon, the decision to change, or reaffirm the church’s historic position will be considered. Pastors and congregations within our denomination hold opinions across the spectrum of this decision. Some sincerely believe our church policy is correct as it is. Others believe it is not correct. Across the spectrum, many believe our policy impacts our ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We seek to be a church that is inclusive enough to hold together people of different cultures, languages, and traditions.
In our Social Principles, United Methodists have stated our common belief around this value: We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self.
This Supreme Court decision calls attention to the difference between the laws of the United States, and the policy of our church. The law does not require anyone to violate their conscience of what God has called them to do, or their theological understanding. But, if we seek to be an inclusive church that serves all of our parishioners, and all of our neighbors, we will have to consider how we treat all people equally. The heart of our call to ministry is to be pastor to the people of the congregation, and the community, we serve. May wecontinue to be a people of prayer, and hope, as we work towards a day of equality and inclusion for all people created in the image of God.
Alice Stokes Paul, women’s rights activist and leader in getting women the right to vote says, “I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction. Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.”
Grace and Peace,
Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr.
President, Council of Bishops
The Africa Journal of Wesleyan Theology, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2014
This journal of pastoral theology targets those serving in the African context and regions of the Global South that have significant cultural convergence with Africa. It features writers who resonate with the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition of Christianity, and combines sound scholarship with insights from the practice of ministry.
Table of Contents
“Ancestral Cult and the Church in Africa” by Rev Gift Mtukwa
“A Quest for an African Christian Marriage” by Rev Mashangu "Harry" Maluleka
“What of Homosexuality? A South African Nazarene Pastor’s Response” by Rev Dr Patrick Thomas
“Polygamy: Can the Church Live with it?” by Rev Daphne Mathebula
“The Christus Victor in Africa” by Rev Daniel A.K.L. Gomis
AttachmentSize
Download the complete journal in PDF 875.17 KBTabs
Details(active tab)
Additional Information
Copyright Information
LanguageEnglish
Type: Complete journal
Published Date: March 2014
Title of Periodical: The Africa Journal of Wesleyan Theology
Volume number: 1
Issue Number:
1- See more at: https://www.whdl.org/content/africa-journal-wesleyan-theology-volume-1-number-1-march-2014#sthash.nJdbo8DV.dpuf
Asia-Pacific Regional Communications
Ortigas Avenue Extension, Kaytickling
Taytay, Rizal, Manila, 1920, Philippines
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