Resolution: Encouraging Civil Dialogue Regarding Opposing Views On Issues Concerning Sexuality And Marriage

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WHEREAS, scripture states “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God created he them; male and female, he created them” (Genesis 1:27, NRSV); and “God said to them be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28); and God considered creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31); and

WHEREAS, many are drawn to Christ’s teaching on marriage (Matthew 19: 3-9; Mark 10: 2-9); and

WHEREAS, tradition in the United Church of Christ does not discourage, but rather welcomes discussions concerning matters of faith among people of faith; and

WHEREAS, the delegates to the Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ in 1989 voted to make the Conference “Open and Affirming;” and

WHEREAS, many find homosexual activity to be contrary to Scriptural teaching; and

WHEREAS, the issue of homosexual activity within loving, exclusive, and committed relationships is a matter requiring continuing discussion among people of faith; and

WHEREAS, the Basis of Union of our denomination states, “The faith which unites us and to which we bear witness is that faith in God which the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments set forth, which the ancient Church expressed in the ecumenical creeds, to which our own spiritual fathers gave utterance in the evangelical confessions of the Reformation, and which we are in duty bound to express in the words of our time as God Himself gives us light. In all our expressions of that faith we seek to preserve unity of heart and spirit with those who have gone before us as well as those who now labor with us;”

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT We, the delegates to the 137th Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Conference, request the Conference Minister, staff, and ministries of the Connecticut Conference to encourage continuing civil, age-appropriate, and faithful discourse among those holding various views within the Conference on the topics of sexuality, including homosexuality and marriage.

[Annual Meeting 2004]