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Christ Episcopal Church Vestry
Statement on Human Sexuality

We, the Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church:
1. Affirm God’s intention that human sexuality be expressed and fulfilled only within faithful monogamous heterosexual marriage relationships (Gen. 2:23-25, Hebrews 13:4, Ephesians 5:2-5).

2. Affirm God’s love for all people. Fear of and hatred toward any group of people is not permissible for Christians. This church, following the example of our Lord, will demonstrate compassion for all (Romans 5:8, John 3:16-17, Matt. 9:10-13).

3. Admit that we are all sinners and fall short of the Glory of God. All of us have gone our own way. None of us is by nature any better than anyone else; it is only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, by His grace and faith in Him that any of us can be acceptable to God (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 53:6, Eph. 2:8-9, John 3:16-18).

4. Affirm that temptation and inclination toward homosexual activity and other sexual relationships outside marriage is not sinful in and of itself. Rather, the willful pursuit and practice of such activities are sinful (Lev. 18-22, I Cor 6:9-11 NIV, Romans 12:1-2, Eph. 2:1-10).

5. Affirm that God forgives any repentant person of any event, habit or attitude of the past, and to bestow, by grace alone, new life in His Son, Jesus Christ. The church is God’s instrument of healing forgiveness, and will seek to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. (II Cor. 5:17, Romans 12:1-2, Eph. 1:1-10).

6. Reject any position or policy of lifestyle which is contrary to Scripture, and we will lead this congregation, by the Grace of God, always to reject positions on any subject which are contrary to Scripture (Col. 3:5-8 NIV, II Tim. 3:16-17, Matt. 5:17-19).

7. By God’s Grace, will stand firm in these convictions, and will advocate these principles to others within the Episcopal Church and the wider Christian community.

Finally, we make these statements in humility before God, to whom all things are known and from whom no secrets are hid. We call upon the members of Christ Church to pray for all those in Christian leadership, that their and our own views would conform with the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures.
(Adopted 1994. Reaffirmed 1997.)

Scripture Supporting Vestry Statement on Human Sexuality

Genesis 2:23-25
23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Hebrews 13:4
4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Eph 5:2-5
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Romans 5:8
8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16-17
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Matt 9:10-13
10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[1] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Romans 3:23
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Isaiah 53:6
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

I Corinthians 6:9-11
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Romans 12:1-2
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ephesians 2:1-10
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

II Cor 5:17
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Col 3:5-8
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

II Tim 3:16
16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

Matthew 5:17-19
17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Christ Episcopal Church
4550 Legacy Drive
Plano, TX 75025-3885
(972) 618-0222
www.ChristChurchPlano.org