GEOFFREY MBWANA: At this time we will begin our afternoon session.
GARY KRAUSE: [Prayer.]
GEOFFREY MBWANA: We will request Armando Miranda to remind us of the item that was on the floor before lunch.
ARMANDO MIRANDA: The item is number 418 on page 111, the Youth Ministries.
GEOFFREY MBWANA: There is the motion before us to amend the Church Manual, Chapter 8, as presented. [Voted.]
ARMANDO MIRANDA: Item 405, on page 95, regards the reason for discipline.
HARALD WOLLAN: This we divided into two, so part of the previous 4 becomes 5, and then subsequently numbering changes also.
Point 4 is “Fornication, which includes, among other issues, promiscuity, homosexual activity, incest, sodomy, and bestiality.”
We have moved something down to point 5, which reads on line 31, “The production, use, or distribution of pornographic material.”
I move the whole section.
GEOFFREY MBWANA: The motion is to amend the Church Manual, Chapter 7, as presented. [Seconded and voted.]
ARMANDO MIRANDA: The next item is 426, definition of marriage. We consider it important because of the situation in different parts of the world. We need to be clear on what our definition of marriage is.
HARALD WOLLAN: There was a sentence on lines 26 and 27 with the amendment that “as such, marriage is a public, lawfully binding, lifelong commitment of a man and a woman to each other and between the couple and God.” And there are references to Mark 10:2-9 and Romans 7:2.
Bear in mind that there is a definition there also regarding marriage, and it’s more extended there. When we deal with the definition of marriage, we also need to take that into consideration, because we have already stated that marriage is defined as a public, lawfully binding, monogamous, heterosexual relationship between one man and one woman.
And I move this.
To amend the Church Manual, Chapter 13, as presented.
GEOFFREY MBWANA: [Seconded and voted.]
ARMANDO MIRANDA: We still have four items, but we are considering that they could be contentious, and for that reason we consider it appropriate to move that we table these items in order to leave them to the next Church Manual Committee and just follow the regular process for the next GC session. I move.
GEOFFREY MBWANA: Thank you. And we want to thank you for the work that the Standing Committee has done. You have worked in sometimes difficult times, but we thank you for what you have processed.
ARMANDO MIRANDA: I would like to take the opportunity to thank the members of the Church Manual Committee for the work during the past quinquennium. Thank you so much, and God bless you.
BHAJU RAM SHRESTHA: I am coming from Nepal from the earthquake. I’d like to thank you on behalf of my country for being a part of the Adventist Church, which runs democratically and does what is best for the country and best for the church. So I would like to express my solidarity and my gratefulness to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the world.
LAWRENCE GERATY: I can’t say that I disagree with most of what has been voted this morning. But my heart is heavy because I sense a lack of compassion in the church for people whom God has created, many of them the way they are. And the Lord that I serve said that he who has not sinned can cast the first stone. Go and sin no more.
So I think the church should be clear about our teachings, but I also think that we have to recognize that there are people whom God has created who cannot always follow the dictates—
GEOFFREY MBWANA: Thank you.
LAWRENCE GERATY: ——of the church.
KENDRA JO HALOVIAK VALENTINE: There are reports coming in that Seventh-day Adventist women in various parts of our World Church who serve as commissioned ministers and ordained elders are, according to our current world church policy, being asked to resign their positions because of Wednesday’s vote. Our vote Wednesday did not change our global policy on women serving as commissioned pastors or ordained elders.
I am requesting our president or our church leaders make an official worldwide statement.
GEOFFREY MBWANA: Allow me to go to the other items that we wish to bring. I would like to call upon Elder Myron Iseminger to present them.
MYRON ISEMINGER: Yesterday we voted an action with a request to the Steering Committee that the world church take time to study our hermeneutic, or our system of biblical interpretation.
The Steering Committee sees value in that request, and they have agreed to work with the Biblical Research Institute to address the issue. In fact, the Biblical Research Institute is already studying the issue and has plans to publish their findings in the form of a revised second edition of the book currently available on biblical interpretation.
GEOFFREY MBWANA: Thank you. With that, we have come to the end of our items. And at this point I will turn to Ted Wilson to make a statement.
TED N. C. WILSON: Let me make two statements here. One has to do with the item that was taken this morning, which I’m afraid caused some confusion regarding appeals that can be made. The wording used in the action that is in the Church Manual that was voted this morning is wording that is almost the same as is currently in the Working Policy in Section B, B-10-22. There is no secret agenda, no malicious intent to try to limit in any way the exercise of activity and authority on the part of the General Conference. The reason for the wording is to limit any frivolous appeals from coming up through the system.
However, there is no language that limits the General Conference from not becoming interested and involved in anything in the church. The General Conference uses its discretion. It uses an appropriate approach. It generally works through its divisions and through its different levels.
In fact, it is interesting. In the very constitution that begins in the very beginning of our Working Policy, it says, “The General Conference conducts much of its work through its divisions.” It doesn’t say it conducts all of its work through the divisions. It says “much of its work.”
In the bylaws of that same constitution, it says at the very beginning that the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, hereinafter referred to as the General Conference, normally shall conduct its worldwide work through its divisions, each division to operate within a specified territory in harmony with General Conference policies.
So it normally does that. It does not rule out any option for the General Conference that if it feels there is a necessary reason to investigate, to try to work with a particular problem, that it cannot do so.
So please do not imagine things that, in my opinion and in my understanding, are never there.
If, in fact, we find out that becomes a problem, we will have to address that.
The second item that I would like to mention is one that in the Steering Committee this morning, we had a very lovely spirit, a very strong spirit, and I must tell you, a very committed spirit on the part of division presidents and officers to maintain, to adhere to, to uphold what the General Conference in session votes. It was a very gratifying and wonderful spirit. And I applaud all divisions for this spirit. And we appeal to everyone as individuals to uphold that spirit as well.
However, what we voted on Wednesday was simply to not allow divisions to make a decision about ordination for women in their divisions. What the vote meant was that we maintain the current policy. The current understanding is intended that men be ordained.
Now, there are additional policies and provisions that have been voted by the Annual Council and have been accepted. Whether people agree with them or not, they are there. The vote on Wednesday did not have anything to do specifically with women being ordained as local elders.
Now, people may have differing opinions on that particular subject, but the vote on Wednesday was not pertaining to that. Neither was it pertaining to anything in policy regarding commissioned ministers.
So let us be clear on what was voted on Wednesday. We are now back to our original understanding. And I would strongly urge all to adhere by what has been voted. But do not place into the vote other things that were not listed in the vote. We need to be fair, we need to be open, and we all need to accept what is voted at a General Conference session.
I have asked the division presidents to care for specific items that come up within their division. But we will rely on the divisions to alert us to anything that we must consider at the General Conference level. Now, that doesn’t preclude the General Conference from discovering information and from looking at that itself. But we want to count upon our system and our structure.
And again let me say that we had a very sweet spirit in our Steering Committee this morning, and I praise God for that.
Again I thank you for your graciousness, and I wish each of you a wonderful and a happy Sabbath.
GEOFFREY MBWANA: Thank you very much, Elder Wilson.
GARY KRAUSE: I’d like to move that we adjourn sine die.
[It was seconded and approved.]
GEOFFREY MBWANA: We are very grateful for each one of you who came back this afternoon, and we wish you God’s blessings as we go into the Sabbath hours.
BHAJU RAM SHRESTHA: [Prayer.]
GEOFFREY G. MBWANA, Chair
GARY D. KRAUSE, Secretary
R. J. KLOOSTERHUIS, GARY B. PATTERSON, and CLAUDE SABOT, Proceedings Editors
Sixtieth General Conference Session July 10, 2015, 2:00 p.m.
VOTED, To call forv the vote on Youth Ministries - Church Manual Amendment.
VOTED, To amend the Church Manual, Chapter 8, Local Church Officers and Organizations, pages 100 to 105, Youth Ministries, to read as follows:
Youth Ministries
The various youth organizations of the church should work closely with the youth ministries department of the conference.
Adventist Youth Society (AYS)—The Ministries (AYM)—The church works for and with its youth through the AYM. AYS. Under the AYM, AYS leader youth are to work together in together, in cooperation with the wider church community, towards the development of a strong youth ministry that includes spiritual, mental, and physical development of each individual, Christian social interaction, and an active witnessing program that supports the general soul-winning plans of the church. The goal of AYM AYS should be to involve all youth in activities that will tie them closer to the church lead them to active church membership and train them for Christian service.
AYM Mission—To lead young people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and help them embrace His call to discipleship.
AYM Motto—The love of Christ compels us.
AYM Aim—The Advent Message to all the world in my generation.
The youth ministries program of the church comprises three broad categories, namely: Junior Youth (Adventurers: ages 6-9 and Pathfinders: ages 10-15), Senior Youth (Ambassadors: ages 16-21 and Young Adults: ages 22-30+), and Public Campus Students: ages 16-30+.
God said to Moses, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:6-9).
The apostle Paul added, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).
“We have an army of youth today who can do much if they are properly directed and encouraged. . . . We want them to be blessed of God. We want them to act a part in well-organized plans for helping other youth.”— GCB, Jan. 29, 30, 1893, p. 24.
“When the youth give their hearts to God, our responsibility for them does not cease. They must be interested in the Lord’s work, and led to see that He expects them to do something to advance His cause. It is not enough to show how much needs to be done, and to urge the youth to act a part. They must be taught how to labor for the Master. They must be trained, disciplined, drilled, in the best methods of winning souls to Christ. Teach them to try in a quiet, unpretending way to help their young companions. Let different branches of missionary effort be systematically laid out, in which they may take part, and let them be given instruction and help. Thus they will learn to work for God.”—GW 210.
“With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the whole world!”—MYP 196.
While there is to be an active Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM) AYS in every church, it is important that the youth program not be isolated from the rest of the church. In addition to their AYM AYS participation, youth should be integrated into responsible leadership and in all lines of church work. As young elders, deacons, and deaconesses, for example, they can work with and learn from experienced officers.
“In order that the work may go forward in all its branches, God calls for youthful vigor, zeal, and courage. He has chosen the youth to aid in the advancement of His cause. To plan with clear mind and execute with courageous hand demands fresh, uncrippled energies. Young men and women are invited to give God the strength of their youth, that through the exercise of their powers, through keen thought and vigorous action, they may bring glory to Him and salvation to their fellow men.”—GW 67.
Adventist Youth Ministries Committee—The Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM) Committee youth ministries committee is the umbrella organization in the church for the general planning of the youth ministry program. (See pp. 127, 128.) It includes the elected officers of the Adventist Youth Society (AYS) The AYM Committee includes the following church-elected officers: Young Adults leader, Public Campus Ministries leader/coordinator, Ambassador leader, Pathfinder director, Adventurer director, plus the personal ministries leader, youth Sabbath School school division leader, children’s ministries leader, health ministries leader, principal of the school, the AYM sponsor, and the pastor. Ambassador Club director, Pathfinder Club director, Adventurer Club director, principal of the school, the sponsor, and the pastor. The AYS leader, who is a member of the board, chairs this committee. The committee should meet as necessary to develop short- and long-range goals and plans for a successful ministry. (See Notes, #16, p. 171.)
If there are no distinct Ambassador ministry or young adults ministries established in the church, or until such time as they are established, the AYM Committee will plan for the senior youth ministry to include both age groups.
In parts of the world where there is no Pathfinder or Adventurer ministry, or until such time as they are organized, the AYM Committee will plan for appropriate activities for the junior youth.
The AYM leader (formerly known as the AYS director), who is a member of the board, chairs this committee. The committee should meet as necessary to develop short- and long-range goals and plans for a successful ministry. (See Notes, #16, p. 171.)
AYS Committee—The AYS committee is responsible for senior youth activities and works in coordination with the other youth entities through the Adventist youth ministries committee. If there is no Ambassador, Pathfinder, or Adventurer program, the AYS will include these younger members in a junior society.
AYS Officers—The Young Adults Ministries Committee—The Young Adults Ministries Committee is responsible for Young Adult activities and works in coordination with the Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM) Committee.
The church elects the following Young Adults Ministries officers: leader, associate leader, secretary-treasurer, assistant secretary-treasurer, and music director. these AYS officers: youth leader, associate youth leader, secretary-treasurer, assistant secretary-treasurer, chorister, pianist or organist, and sponsor (who may be an elder). Since music plays an important role in the formation of youth character, musicians should be as carefully selected as the other AYS officers. (See pp. 92, 96.) This group forms the nucleus for the Young Adults Ministries Committee, which appoints other officers for the respective activities. AYS committee, which in counsel with the youth appoints other officers. In smaller churches one person may carry several responsibilities.
Public Campus Ministries—Strengthening the Youth Ministries of the church, Public Campus Ministries (PCM), in collaboration with the Adventist Ministry to College and University Students (AMiCUS), provides vision and strategic planning for ministry to and
support for Seventh-day Adventist students (ages 16-30+) who attend college or university institutions not operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Public Campus Ministries Leader/Coordinator—The church may appoint a Public Campus Ministries leader/coordinator to develop an intentional ministry with the purpose of caring for the special needs of college or university students in institutions not operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in consultation with and support of the Adventist Youth Ministries Committee.
Ambassador Ministry—The Ambassador Ministry provides a specialized program to meet the needs of youth, ages 16 to 21. It offers young people in this age group organization and structure, and promotes their active involvement in the church, locally and globally. The ministry is designed to strengthen the current senior youth ministry of the Church. It challenges them to experience and share a personal relationship with Christ, helps them develop a lifestyle that is consistent with the Seventh-day Adventist belief system, provides training in diverse vocational interests, and provides them with a safe environment for the wholesome development of lifelong friendships. Its activities are to be carried out in accordance with conference policies and in coordination with the AYM Committee of the local church.
Ambassador Committee—The Ambassador Committee is responsible for Ambassador activities and works in coordination with the Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM) Committee.
The church elects the following Ambassador officers: leader, associate leader, secretary-treasurer, assistant secretary-treasurer, and music director. This group forms the Ambassador Committee which appoints other officers for the respective activities.
Pathfinder Club—The Pathfinder Club provides a church-centered outlet for the spirit of adventure and exploration, in the context of spiritual development and soul-winning, for ages 10 to 15. Activities are carefully tailored to include outdoor living, nature exploration, crafts, hobbies, or vocations.
Pathfinder Committee—The Pathfinder Club director and deputy directors are elected by the church. (See pp. 105, 172.) If two deputy directors are elected, there should be one male and one female. One of the deputy directors may also serve as club secretary and treasurer. The director is a member of the board and the Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM) Committee.
Additional Pathfinder staff may include instructors of craft and nature classes and counselors who are each responsible for a unit of six to eight Pathfinders.
Resource materials are available from the conference youth ministries director.
Everyone involved in work with minor children must meet Church and legal standards and requirements, such as background checks or certification. Local church leaders should consult with the conference, which will ascertain and advise as to what background checks and certifications are available and/or required. (See Notes, #7, pp. 168, 169.)
Adventurer Club—The Adventurer Club provides home and church programs for parents with 6-to-9-year-old children. It is designed to stimulate the children’s curiosity and includes age-specific activities that involve both parents and child in recreational activities, simple crafts, appreciation of God’s creation, and other activities that are of interest to that age. All is carried out with a spiritual focus, setting the stage for participation in the church as a Pathfinder.
Adventurer Committee—The church elects the club director and associates. (See pp. 104, 172.) Additional staff members are selected by the administrative staff of the club. The director is a member of the Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM) Committee.
Resource materials are available from the conference youth ministries director.
Everyone involved in work with minor children must meet Church and legal standards and requirements, such as background checks or certification. Local church leaders should consult with the conference, which will ascertain and advise as to what background checks and certifications are available and/or required. (See Notes, #7, pp. 168, 169.)
The AYS leader AYM Officers—The leaders/directors of the four youth ministry entities must exemplify Christlike graces and have a burden for soul winning and contagious enthusiasm. In helping motivate youth to work together and take responsibilities, the leader leaders/directors will be in the background— guiding, counseling, and encouraging youth, helping them gain experience and the joys of achievement. The leader leaders/directors should study the youth profile of the church and seek to involve every eligible youth in the Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM). AYS.
The leader leaders/directors will keep in touch with the pastor, the sponsor, their respective sponsors, and the conference youth ministries director, taking advantage of opportunities for in-service training and leading the society their respective ministry into a cooperative relationship with the church and the conference.
The associate leader associate leaders/deputy directors (if needed) will assist the leader leaders/directors and will chair the AYS committee and perform leadership duties when the leader is leaders/directors are absent. The AYS committee respective committees may assign additional responsibilities to the associate leaders/directors. associate leader.
The secretary-treasurer secretary-treasurers will keep a record of AYS activities, the activities of their respective ministries, submit monthly reports on forms provided to the conference youth ministries director, and encourage youth to report their witnessing activities during the ten-minute personal ministries period.
The respective assistant secretary-treasurers (if needed) assist with the secretary-treasurers’ secretary-treasurer (if needed) assists with the secretary-treasurer’s work as assigned.
AYS AYM Sponsor—The Adventist Youth Ministries (AYM) AYS sponsor may be an elder or other person on the board who understands the objectives of the AYM, AYS, is sympathetic with youth and their involvement in the church’s ministries, and will serve as a valued counselor to the youth. The sponsor serves as a guide or counselor to AYM AYS officers and joins them regularly in the AYM Committee AYS committee meetings. The sponsor will work with the AYM leaders AYS leader to present the ministry’s society’s needs to the board.
The sponsor should become acquainted with the conference youth ministries director and keep the director informed of changes in officer personnel and other AYM AYS matters. Along with AYM leaders, AYS officers, the sponsor should attend conference youth training institutes to keep informed about developments in youth ministry.
For the sake of continuity, the sponsor, if possible, should serve multiple terms.
Adventist Youth Features—To help youth grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, the youth ministries department arranges age-related programming that provides an environment for development of spiritual gifts.
Everyone involved in work with minor children must meet Church and legal standards and requirements, such as background checks or certification. Local church leaders should consult with the conference, which will ascertain and advise as to what background checks and certifications are available and/or required. (See Notes, #7, pp. 168, 169.)
Resources—For youth ministries resources, see Notes, #17, p. 171.
Adventist Junior Youth Society (AJY)—The objectives of AJY are the training of junior youth for Christian leadership and service and the development of members to their fullest potential.
In churches with schools the AJY is part of the curriculum and a teacher is AJY leader or sponsor. When the AJY is conducted in the school, each classroom is considered a society, with students in the lower elementary designated as preparatory members. Upper-elementary students are regular members.
Everyone involved in work with youth must meet Church and legal standards and requirements, such as background checks or certification. Local church leaders should consult with the conference, which will ascertain and advise as to what background checks and certifications are available and/or required. (See Notes, #7, pp. 168, 169.)
Ambassador Club—The Ambassador Club provides a specialized program to meet the needs of youth, ages 16 through 21. It offers young people in this age group organization and structure, and promotes their active involvement in the church, locally and globally. The club is designed to strengthen the current senior youth/young adult ministry of the Church. It challenges them to experience and share a personal relationship with Christ, helps them develop a lifestyle that fits their belief system and vocational interest, and provides them with a safe venue for wholesome development of lifelong friendships. Its activities are to be carried out in accordance with conference policies and in coordination with other youth/young adult ministries of the local church. The Ambassador Club has a director and associate director(s). The associate director(s) may also serve as the secretary and treasurer. The director is a member of the Adventist Youth Society committee.
Pathfinder Club—The Pathfinder Club provides a church-centered outlet for the spirit of adventure and exploration found in junior youth. This includes carefully tailored activities in outdoor living, nature exploration, crafts, hobbies, or vocations beyond the possibilities in an average AJY. In this setting spiritual emphasis is well received, and the Pathfinder Club has demonstrated its soul-winning influence. In many churches Pathfinder Clubs have replaced the traditional AJY. If there is a school, the Pathfinder Club should supplement the work of the AJY.
The Pathfinder Club director and deputy directors are elected by the church. (See pp. 105, 172.) If two deputy directors are elected, there should be one of each gender. One of the deputy directors may also serve as club scribe and treasurer. The director is a member of the board and the Adventist youth ministries committee.
Additional Pathfinder staff may include instructors of craft and nature classes and counselors who are each responsible for a unit of six to eight Pathfinders.
Resource materials are available from the conference youth ministries director.
Everyone involved in work with minor children must meet Church and legal standards and requirements, such as background checks or certification. Local church leaders should consult with the conference, which will ascertain and advise as to what background checks and certifications are available and/or required. (See Notes, #7, pp. 168, 169.)
Adventurer Club—The Adventurer Club provides home and church programs for parents with 6- through 9-year-old children. It is designed to stimulate the children’s curiosity and includes age-specific activities that involve both parent and child in recreational activities, simple crafts, appreciation of God’s creation, and other activities that are of interest to that age. All is carried out with a spiritual focus, setting the stage for participation in the church as a Pathfinder.
The church elects the club director and associates. (See pp. 104, 172.) Additional staff members are selected by the administrative staff of the club. The director is a member of the Adventist youth ministries committee. Resource materials are available from the conference youth ministries director.
Everyone involved in work with minor children must meet Church and legal standards and requirements, such as background checks or certification. Local church leaders should consult with the conference, which will ascertain and advise as to what background checks and certifications are available and/or required. (See Notes, #7, pp. 168, 169.)
Resources—For youth ministries resources, see Notes, #17, p. 171.
VOTED, To amend the Church Manual, Chapter 7, Discipline, pages 61 and 62, Reasons for Discipline, to read as follows:
Reasons for Discipline
The reasons for which members shall be subject to discipline are:
1. Denial of faith in the fundamentals of the gospel and in the - No change
2. Violation of the law of God, such as worship of - No change
3. Violation of the commandment of the law of God, which reads, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14, Matt. 5:27-28), as it relates to the marriage institution and the Christian home, biblical standards of moral conduct, and any act of sexual intimacy outside of a marriage relationship and/or nonconsensual acts of sexual conduct within a marriage, whether those acts are legal or illegal. Such acts include but are not limited to child sexual abuse, including abuse of the vulnerable. Marriage is defined as a public, lawfully binding, monogamous, heterosexual relationship between one man and one woman. Violation of the seventh commandment of the law of God as it relates to the marriage institution, the Christian home, and biblical standards of moral conduct.
4. Fornication, which includes among other issues, promiscuity, homosexual activity, incest, sodomy, and bestiality.
4. 5. Sexual abuse of children, youth, and vulnerable adults, fornication, promiscuity, incest, homosexual practice, the The production, use, or distribution of pornographic material. pornography, and other sexual perversions.
5. 6. Remarriage of a divorced person, except the spouse who has - No change
6. 7. Physical violence, including violence within the - No change
7. 8. Fraud or willful misrepresentation in - No change
8. 9. Disorderly conduct which brings reproach upon the - No change
9. 10. Adhering Adherence to or taking part in a divisive or disloyal movement or organization. (See p. 59.)
10. 11. Persistent refusal to recognize properly constituted church authority - No change
11. 12. The use, manufacture, or sale of alcoholic - No change
12. 13. The use, manufacture, or sale of tobacco in any of its forms - No change
13. 14. The use or manufacture of illicit drugs or the use, misuse, or sale of narcotics or drugs without appropriate medical cause and license. misuse of, or trafficking in, narcotics or other drugs.
VOTED, To call for the vote on Marriage - Church Manual Amendment.
VOTED, To amend the Church Manual, Chapter 13, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage, pages 148 to 150, Marriage, to read as follows:
Marriage
Marriage is a divine institution established by God Himself before the Fall, when everything, including marriage, was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). “God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of the universe. ‘Marriage is honourable’; it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the fall, Ad
am brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise.”—AH 25, 26.
God intended the marriage of Adam and Eve to be the pattern for all future marriages, and Christ endorsed this original concept: “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matt. 19:4-6). Marriage, thus instituted by God, is a monogamous, heterosexual relationship between one male and one female.
Marriage is a lifelong commitment of husband and wife As such, marriage is a public, lawfully binding lifelong commitment of a man and a woman to each other and between the couple and God (Mark 10:2-9; Rom. 7:2). Paul indicates that the commitment that Christ has for the church is a model of the relationship between husband and wife (Eph. 5:31, 32). God intended marriage to be as permanent as Christ’s relationship with the church.
Sexual intimacy within marriage is a sacred gift from God to the human family. It is an integral part of marriage, reserved for marriage only (Gen. 2:24; Prov. 5:5-20). Such intimacy, designed to be shared exclusively between husband and wife, promotes ever-increasing closeness, happiness, and security, and provides for the perpetuation of the human race.
Unity in marriage is achieved by mutual respect and love. No one is superior (Eph. 5:21-28). “Marriage, a union for life, is a symbol of the union between Christ and His church. The spirit that Christ manifests toward the church is the spirit that husband and wife are to manifest toward each other.”—7T 46. God’s Word condemns violence in personal relationships (Gen. 6:11, 13; Ps. 11:5; Isa. 58:4, 5; Rom. 13:10; Gal. 5:19-21). It is the spirit of Christ to love and accept, to seek to affirm and build others up, rather than to abuse or demean them (Rom. 12:10; 14:19; Eph. 4:26; 5:28, 29; Col. 3:8-14; 1 Thess. 5:11). There is no room among Christ’s followers for tyrannical control and the abuse of power (Matt. 20:25-28; Eph. 6:4). Violence in the setting of marriage and family is abhorrent (see AH 343).
“Neither husband nor wife is to make a plea for rulership. The Lord has laid down the principle that is to guide in this matter. The husband is to cherish his wife as Christ cherishes the church. And the wife is to respect and love her husband. Both are to cultivate the spirit of kindness, being determined never to grieve or injure the other.”—7T 47.
The entrance of sin adversely affected marriage. When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the oneness that they had known with God and with each other (Gen. 3:6-24). Their relationship became marked with guilt, shame, blame, and pain. Wherever sin reigns, its sad effects on marriage include alienation, unfaithfulness, neglect, abuse, sexual perversion, domination of one partner by the other, violence, separation, desertion, and divorce.
Marriages involving more than one husband and one wife are also an expression of the effects of sin on the institution of marriage. Such marriages, though practiced in Old Testament times, are not in harmony with the divine design. God’s plan for marriage requires His people to transcend the mores of popular culture that conflict with the biblical view.
The Christian concept of marriage includes the following:
1. Divine Ideal to Be Restored in Christ—In redeeming the world from - No change
2. Oneness and Equality to Be Restored in Christ—The gospel - No change
3. Grace Available for All—God seeks to restore to wholeness - No change
4. Role of the Church—Moses in the Old Testament and Paul - No change
Geoffrey G Mbwana, Chair
Gary D Krause, Secretary
Myron A Iseminger, Actions Editor
Wendy Trim, Recording Secretary
