We believe that we all were sexual before we were sinful. In addition, we acknowledge that all of our sexualities and desires have been distorted by sin. As temples for the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge that what we do with our bodies matters to God and we are called to live in holy action. At Garden Church, we believe that LGBTQ+ individuals are created in the image of God, loved radically by God, with inherent dignity, value, and worth, with great gifts to bring to God’s world and to the body of Christ, and that Jesus calls all who follow him to honor and treat them as such. Garden Church holds to the traditional sexual ethic - that any sexual activity outside of marriage (between one man and one woman) is sin, and calls both straight and LGBTQ+ followers of Jesus to commit their bodies and hearts to Jesus. (Gen. 1:31, Rom. 1:21-25, Isa. 53, 1 Cor. 6:19, 1 Cor. 9:26-27, 1 Cor. 6:13)

We believe that from the beginning God created two separate and distinct biological sexes: male and female. Moreover, we believe that Scripture does not permit any difference between biological sex and gender identity or expression. Humankind has been created by God and any attempt to misconstrue the difference between male/female and/or biological sex/gender identity is an attempt to self-create and is a result of sin and the fall. (Gen. 1:26-27, Matt. 19:4, Mark 10:6-7, Psalm 139:14).

We believe God has ordained marriage as a covenant relationship between one biological man, one biological woman, and Himself. God’s purpose in this is that marriage be a symbol of two different things coming together to reflect something new. Fundamental to marriage, is God’s design for how both men and women reflect God’s image into the world, together. Human marriage, defined by Jesus as the lifelong covenantal union of two sexually-different-yet-equal persons, is a temporary signpost pointing to far a greater cosmic reality—the ultimate union of heaven and earth. (Gen. 2:24, Matt. 19:4, Eph. 5:25, 1 Pet. 3:7).