Marriage

Marriage was established by God Himself in the Garden of Eden to be a lifelong bond between one man and one woman.

We must stand against the world that treats this sacred institution as something to be casually disregarded or, more recently, even redefined according to the whims of sinful man.  Christ's church is even referred to as His bride throughout the New Testament, underscoring the sacredness of this union.

We recognize that this world is, alas, fallen and broken, mired in sin and depravity, and God's perfect ideal for marriage is very often not the case.  The church is not a 1924 speak-easy, not an exclusive club for the pure and perfect, but the community of those Christ has called out of the world and into His glorious light.

We believe divorce, an unnatural separation of what "God has joined together", is only permitted in the cases of abandonment and adultery.  Divorce must not be common nor habitual, and is a grave and painful burden one must carry for the rest of their life, and is inconsistent with one carrying the gratitude of grace in Christ in their heart.

While throughout history the church has had many views on divorce and remarriage, running the gamut from unqualified absolute prohibition to permissive, we believe the church must never normalize divorce nor do anything to make people feel comfortable about it, as this goes against God's design for marriage.