MARRIAGE AND CELIBACY
Two Beautiful Paths.
Marriage and celibacy are both beautiful, challenging invitations from God for the good of His people. We believe God can be honored and Christ can be served through both paths - and neither is better than the other.
What Scripture shows us.
The Bible talks to us a lot about marriage, but it's silent on many details. For example, Scripture doesn't tell us what age to get married, what qualities make for good partnerships, when or how to have children, whether single people should raise children, who should perform weddings, or what those ceremonies should look like. We have to use our God-given wisdom, reason, and experience to interpret Scripture in ways that promote unity, care, equity, and dignity as we make thoughtful choices about church practices.
A little about Christian marriage.
While the Bible doesn't spell out every detail about marriages and weddings, it does give us clear guidance about what should mark a Christian marriage. Though not different by nature from any other marriage, a Christian marriage is marked by the couple's intentional choice to live Christ into their marriage and let Christ flow out of it. In practice, this looks like:
Practicing mutual submission and mutual honor
Committing to faithful monogamy
Practicing sacrificial love - surrendering self out of concern for the other
Acting in ways that intentionally reflect Christ and God's Kingdom to the world
Seeking to help each other become better disciples of Christ through their marriage
A little about Christian celibacy.
Similarly, while the Bible doesn't describe every aspect of celibate life, it gives us guidance about what Christian celibacy should look like. Christian celibacy is different from singleness because of commitment - singleness is simply not being married (whether never married, divorced, or widowed), while celibacy is an intentional commitment to singleness in order to honor God. In practice, this looks like:
Making God's Kingdom the highest priority
Making a lifelong covenant to being single and sexually abstinent
Practicing sacrificial love - surrendering self out of concern for others
Acting in ways that intentionally reflect Christ and God's Kingdom to the world
Seeking to help others become better disciples through intentional friendships
Our approach at UCC.
Here, individuals and couples have the freedom to choose whether they believe God is calling them to faithful celibacy or faithful marriage. If our sibling in faith is called to celibacy, we want to honor their choice and walk alongside them to help them live faithfully. Similarly, if a couple is called to marriage, we want to honor their choice and support them in living out their calling.
What this means practically.
UCC makes room for a spectrum of views about Christian marriage, inviting individuals and couples to seek God's voice, then move forward according to their own conscience.
Our pastors and ordained leaders have the freedom to choose whom they will marry—including same-sex and opposite-sex couples—and perform those weddings.
Our church building is available for any couple wishing to be married who are active participants in our UCC community.
Same-sex married couples—whether new or established participants—will be fully welcomed into the life of our church.
