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Key United Church Doctrine

1960 - First Report on a Christian Understanding of Sex, Love, Marriage.  This report stated: "Marriage is an intimate personal union to which a man and woman consent, consummated in sexual intercourse, and perfected in a life-long partnership of mutual love. Marriage is also a social institution recognized and regulated by the laws and customs which a society develops in order to safeguard its own continuity and welfare. A Christian marriage is one in which husband and wife have publicly covenanted together with God..."[i]
 

1962 - Sanction divorce and remarriage.[ii]
 

1965 - Condone pre-marital sex.[iii]
 

1968 - Issue a New Creed that does not name the Father and does not declare Jesus as God’s Son, Savior or Lord.[iv]
 

1971 - The 24th General Council states, “abortion is morally justifiable.”[v]   UCC policy as amended in 1989: “As a forgiven people in Christ, it is possible for us to live in the midst of moral dilemmas…A child has a right to be wanted, so that it may have some assurance of this essential element in human development.  Bringing unwanted children into the world is irresponsible…Some practice of abortion is inevitable for the next few years while contraceptive techniques are imperfect and contraceptive ignorance is widespread, but the aim of all education, research and social pressure must be always to reduce the incidence of abortion and to promote effective contraception…We affirm the inherent value of human life, both as immature in the foetus and as expressed in the life of the mother and related persons. The foetus is a unique though immature form of human life and, as such, has inherent value. Christians should witness to that value by stressing that abortion is always a moral issue and can only be accepted as the lesser of two evils. Therefore, abortion is acceptable only when, after careful consideration, the medical, social, and/or economic situation makes it the most responsible alternative…We do not support ‘abortion on demand.’ We believe that abortion should be a personal matter between a woman and her doctor, who should earnestly consider their understanding of the particular situation permitting the woman to bring to bear her moral and religious insights into human life in reaching a decision through a free and responsive exercise of her conscience…We URGE the government of Canada...to provide early access to early diagnosis and if necessary, termination of pregnancy so that any abortion should be as early as possible… We draw attention to the action of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada at their meeting in June, 1971: ‘That for the time being the fees for the performance of termination of pregnancy should not exceed that set in the local and provincial fee schedules.’”[vi]
 

1980 - Issue sex report approving of marriage infidelity - In God’s Image: Male and Female: “it [fidelity] includes openness to secondary relationships of emotional intimacy and potential genital expression but with commitment to the primary marriage.”
 

1984 - Declare God indifferent to all sexual orientations.
 

1986 - Report on AIDS.  Under the title, “Theological Affirmation”: “We affirm that the Christian conviction that God loves and cares for all people includes persons with AIDS, and we reject the argument made by some that AIDS is God's punishment for homosexuals.”  We call upon the church: “to affirm that the well-being of both individuals and communities requires not only social responsibility but also personal responsibility to refrain from high-risk behaviors and to adopt responsible behaviors, with a view to the care of one's own body and the care of those to whom we are bound in relationship, family and community.” [vii]
 

1988 - Unrepentant homosexuals who profess faith in Jesus can join and be ordained.
 

1991 – Work begins on the new hymnal Voices United.  Rev. Dr. Victor Shepherd writes: “… I am stunned to find Voices United naming God ‘mother’ and ‘goddess’ in six hymns and three prayers. Two of the prayers name God ‘Father and Mother’ (as in the rewritten prayer of Jesus, ‘Our Father and Mother...’)... Hymn #280 of Voices United exclaims, ‘Mother and God, to you we sing; wide is your womb, warm is your wing.’ This hymn squares perfectly with the fertility cults of old, together with their sacral prostitutes and their religiously sanctioned promiscuity…Voices United has virtually eliminated ‘LORD’ from the Christian vocabulary. The reason it has done so, according to the hymnbook committee, is because ‘LORD’ is hierarchical and therefore oppressive. In The Hymnbook the Trinity is referred to in over 50 hymns out of 506. In Voices United the Trinity is referred to twice out of 719 hymns. Plainly, the Trinity has all but disappeared. This is no surprise. After all, if God isn't to be called ‘Father,’ then God certainly isn't going to be known as ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’…Voices United combines fine hymns and terrible hymns on the assumption, apparently, that ‘nothing should be left out; no one should feel left out; there should be something here for everybody.’  For this reason what we call the ‘Lord's prayer’ has been re-written, ‘Our Father and Mother,’ even as ‘Father, Son, Holy Spirit’ is retained (twice only) for die-hard traditionalists.”[viii]
 

1992 – Moderator clarifies policy on inerrancy of Bible in the report titled “The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture.”  Moderator Marion Pardy summarized the position: members are “to engage the Bible to experience the liberating and transforming word of God…with an awareness of our theological, social and cultural assumptions…with a sense of sacred mystery and in dynamic interaction with human experience, understanding and heritage…trusting God’s Spirit to enliven our understanding and to empower our acting.”[ix]
 

1997 - Adopt a policy to lobby teacher’s unions to promote homosexual affirming programs in public schools.
 

1997 - Moderator, The Right Rev. Dr. Bill Phipps, denies Christ’s divinity: “No I don’t believe Christ was God.”[x]
 

2000 - Adopt a resolution to affirm civil recognition of same-sex unions.
 

2003 - Amend the resolution from 2000 to redefine marriage inclusive of homosexual couples.  Rev. J. Clark Saunders reports, “Out of over a hundred commissioners, I saw only four hands raised in opposition to the motion.  So I think we can say that the General Council’s support was overwhelming.”
 

2005 - UCC “prophecy” on marriage redefinition.  Rev. Dr. Jim Sinclair, General Secretary of the General Council declares, “Marriage will be enhanced, not diminished, religious freedom will be protected, not threatened, and Canadian society will be strengthened, not weakened, as a result of this [same-sex marriage] legislation.”[xi]
 

2005 - FAITH TALK II: A DRAFT STATEMENT OF FAITH FOR DISCUSSION AND RESPONSE by the Committee on Theology and Faith states that Jesus Christ is not the only way, truth and life; the Bible is not really authoritative; the Trinity is deconstructed in a pluralism of new-age lexicon including “Bond of Love;” the Talk denies the day of judgment, denies original sin, asserts that all shall be saved: “Divine creation does not cease until all things have found wholeness, union, and integration with the common ground of all being;” and, obviously, denies the Law (Christian moral code): ‘Scripture is not too hard to live out, nor far off, nor in heaven, that we should say, who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it.”[xii]

[i] The Right Rev. Dr. Peter Short, 38th Moderator, “Chronology of Marriage and Equality Rights in The United Church of Canada,” 8 October 2003, www.united-church.ca, 10/30/05.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] “Creed of The United Church of Canada,” www.bible.ca/cr-united-Can.htm, 4/20/01.

[iv] Don Faris, “Choose Life!” CONCERN, Vol. XIV No. 3, 10 August 2003, p.2.

[v] Child Birth Choice Trust, “Abortion Law, History and Religion,” www.cbctrust.com/history_law_religion.php, 10/30/05.

[vi] United Church of Canada Social Policy Positions, “Contraception and Abortion,” www.united-church.ca/policies/1980/c511.shtm, 10/30/05.

[vii] Executive of General Council, United Church of Canada, Social Policy Positions “Report on AIDS,”November 1986, www.united-church.ca, 10/30/05.

[viii]Victor Shepherd, “You Asked For A Sermon On Voices United,” February 1997, www.victorshepherd.on.ca/UCC%20Critique/voices.htm#Prostitution, 10/30/05.

[ix] Marion Pardy, “Moderator Calls for ‘Holy Manners’ in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate,” August 2003, www.united-church.ca/moderator/pardy/2003/0801.shtm, 4/20/2001.

[x] Head of church denies Resurrection of Christ! Hamilton Spectator, Nov 27, 1997, p.A2, www.bible.ca/cr-united-Can.htm, 4/16/2001

[xi] United Church News Release, “Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Offers a Win-Win Solution, Says The United Church of Canada,” 1 February 2005, www.united-church.ca/news/2005/0201.shtm, 10/30/05.

[xii] Committee on Theology and Faith, The United Church of Canada, FAITH TALK II: A DRAFT STATEMENT OF FAITH FOR DISCUSSION AND RESPONSE, January 2005.