Sex before marriage
Scripture’s test for sex is love, faithfulness, honesty, and care for the other person. Most churches still officially name marriage as its setting.
Sexuality, marriage, and gender
Sex, marriage, divorce, gender, and LGBTQ+ Christians, from Scripture and from the teaching of the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal churches that marry same-sex couples and ordain women.
Gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians
Gay and bisexual Christians belong fully to the church. The ELCA, PC(USA), United Methodist, and Episcopal churches ordain gay clergy and wed gay couples.
Homosexuality and the Bible
Six Bible passages mention same-sex acts. Mainline churches read them as condemning rape and exploitation, and they welcome faithful same-sex couples.
Masturbation and Christian faith
The Bible never mentions masturbation, and Onan’s sin was something else. Scripture’s concerns are lust, compulsion, and porn that exploits people.
Women as priests, pastors, and bishops
Women serve as pastors, priests, and bishops in the mainline churches. Scripture names women as prophets, deacons, and apostles.
Divorce and remarriage
Scripture calls marriage lifelong and meets broken marriages with mercy. Mainline and Orthodox churches allow remarriage, and no one must stay in abuse.
Transgender Christians
Transgender Christians are made and loved by God. Scripture welcomes the eunuchs, and several mainline churches welcome trans people as members and clergy.
Dating and faith
The Bible has no rules for dating, which did not exist in biblical times. Its teaching on love, honesty, consent, and respect fits every relationship.
IVF and Christian ethics
Mainline churches permit IVF, and Scripture honors the longing of couples who face infertility. Unused embryos raise real moral questions.
Birth control and the churches
Mainline churches leave birth control to the prayerful conscience of married couples. Anglican bishops accepted it in 1930, and most Protestants followed.
The mainline churches on same-sex marriage
The United Methodist, ELCA, PC(USA), and Episcopal churches let their clergy marry same-sex couples and ordain gay and lesbian Christians.
The mainline churches on women pastors
The United Methodist, ELCA, PC(USA), and Episcopal churches ordain women as pastors and priests, and women serve as bishops and church leaders.
The mainline churches on transgender people
The United Methodist, ELCA, PC(USA), and Episcopal churches oppose discrimination against transgender people, and several have had transgender clergy.
The mainline churches on divorce
The United Methodist, Lutheran (ELCA), Presbyterian (PC(USA)), and Episcopal churches teach that marriage is for life but allow remarriage after divorce.
Same-sex marriage in the church
Same-sex couples can marry in many churches. The ELCA, the PC(USA), the United Methodist Church, and the Episcopal Church let their clergy marry them.
Mutual submission in marriage
Ephesians 5:21 tells all Christians to be subject to one another. In mainline wedding services, husband and wife make the same promises.
Marrying someone of another faith
A Christian can marry a non-Christian. The mainline churches do not forbid it, and Paul told Christians to stay married to unbelieving spouses.
LGBTQ+ pastors and priests
The ELCA, the PC(USA), the United Methodist Church, and the Episcopal Church ordain LGBTQ+ Christians as pastors, priests, and bishops.
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