Policies of 47 Christian faith
groups towards homosexuality

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Notice:

With the legalization of gay marriage in mid-2015, the response of many Christian denominations has been so rapid that we have been unable to keep the essays linked to this essay up to date.

Overview:

Most Christian denominations, sects, and new religious movement have stated policies towards gays and lesbians:

Whether to allow known, sexually active homosexuals to:

	become and remain church members with full privileges.
	be considered for ordination
	hold other positions of power.

Whether to allow known celibate homosexuals to:

	become and remain church members with full privileges.
	be considered for ordination
	hold other positions of power.

Whether to provide a formal religious ceremony for committed gay and lesbian couples. These are variously called union, civil union, commitment, or -- in a growing number of states -- marriage ceremonies, depending upon the laws of the individual state.

Whether to have an active study program to reduce homophobia within the denomination.

There is no consensus within Christianity about:

	The nature of homosexuality,
	What Bible passages that discuss same-sex sexual behavior actually mean, or
	What policies to enforce about gay and lesbian members, candidates for ordination. commitment rituals or study programs.

The core reason for this lack of consensus is related to how an individual faith group defines truth. The main criteria are:

What the six or so "clobber passages" about same-sex sexual behavior mean, according to historical interpretations.
The policy that the faith group has taken towards homosexuality and homosexuals in the past.
The individual members' personal experience.
The findings of scientific research into homosexuality.

Conservative faith groups like the Roman Catholic Church, and Southern Baptist Convention tend to give criteria 1 & 2 much more weight than 3 & 4.

Religious liberals and progressive Christians tend to stress 3 & 4 in comparison to 1 & 2.

The response of Christian faith groups to homosexuality thus cover a wide range. An individual faith group's stance, can be predicted, based on upon their position in the liberal - fundamentalist continuum:

More liberal denominations and Christians tend to view homosexuality as a civil rights matter; they generally believe it is fixed, unchosen, normal, natural, and morally neutral sexual orientation for a minority of adults.
More conservative denominations and Christians tend to view homosexuality as a profound evil; they generally believe it is changeable, chosen, abnormal, unnatural and immoral behavior, regardless of the nature of the relationship.

Thus:

The more liberal denominations, like the United Church of Christ, have changing their positions on homosexuality, in recent years, to adopt a more inclusive stance.
Mainline denominations such as the Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians are actively debating the question. Denominational schisms may result., particularly in the case of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and Episcopal Church. USA. Similar splits have occurred in the past over human slavery, whether women should be ordained, and certain theological debates.
More conservative denominations are taking no significant action to change their beliefs and policies at this time.
Fundamentalist denominations commit significant effort to prevent equal rights for homosexuals. For example, they:
- Opposed hate-crime laws that protect persons of all sexual orientation,
- Opposed laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation,
- Opposed the elimination of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
- Occasionally expel congregations from their denominations over "the issue." In the case of the Southern Baptist Convention three of their congregations were expelled. The latter had conducted a study of homosexuality, had concluded that the denomination's beliefs were invalid, and had welcomed gays and lesbians as members.

All movement appears to be towards greater inclusiveness towards homosexuality and homosexuals. This is reinforced by the more accepting stance of today's youth. We are unaware of any religious groups becoming less inclusive.

Partial list of churches and their position on homosexuality:

As we uncover statements about homosexuality by various Christian denominations, we include them in a new essay and link it to the following list. Over time, we hope to add to this list so that it represents all of the large Christian denominations, and some smaller ones. We encourage our visitors to help us add to this list by supplying us with information from their own denominations.

We currently have essays available about homosexual policies and beliefs by the following denominations. :

Alliance of Baptists

Anglican Church of Canada

Anglican Communion, worldwide

American Baptist Association

American Baptist Churches in the USA

Assemblies of God

Children of God (COG)

Christian Reformed Church in North America

The Church of Christ

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Christian Science

Church of England

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)

Church of Scotland

Community of Christ: (Formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS):

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

Coptic Orthodox Church (centered in Egypt)

Disciples of Christ (Christian Church)

Episcopal Church, USA

Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples)

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark

The Family

Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuality; Witnesses and same-sex marriages

Lutheran Church of Australia

Methodist Church in Britain

Metropolitan Community Church

Mennonites

Presbyterian Church (USA): (3.4 million membership; mainline denomination)

Presbyterian Church in America (0.3 million membership; conservative denomination)

Presbyterian Church in Canada

The Quakers

Reformed Church in America

Roman Catholic Church

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (RCN)

Russian Orthodox Church

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS): See Community of Christ

Seventh Day Adventists:

	Part 1: Background. Events from 1977 to 1999
	Part 2: Events year 2000 to now. SDA manual. Other gay-positive groups. Conclusions.

Society of Friends (Quakers)

Southern Baptist Convention

	Baptist State Convention of North Carolina
	An exchange of viewpoints on a Southern Baptist web site

Unification Church

Unitarian Universalist Association *

United Church of Christ

United Church of Canada

United Methodist Church

United Pentecostal Church International

Uniting Church in Australia

Unity Church

The Way, International

World Council of Churches

Worldwide Church of God

Other Christian groups

* The Unitarian Universalist Association is not generally considered a Christian denomination. We have included it here because about 10% of its members consider themselves to be Christian.