Introduction

We at the First Baptist Church, Dawson Creek have felt it necessary to include a statement on Human Life, Gender, Marriage, and Sexuality because of our desire to continually follow the standards of loving God and loving one another as laid out within Scripture. We believe that all scripture is God Breathed, 2 Timothy 3:16. Guided by Jesus’ command to love our neighbors, Matthew 22:39, this statement outlines our standard of faith as well as foundational requirement for church membership and leadership positions. All are welcome to attend First Baptist Church, Dawson Creek and all will be loved and accepted just as Christ has loves and accepts us.

Human Life

All human life is considered valuable at every stage, from conception to natural death, including pre-born babies, elderly and those with physical or mental challenges. As followers of Jesus, we have the duty to defend, protect and respect all human life. Psalm 139

Gender

We believe that God wonderfully and wisely created each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Since marriage is to be exclusive to the union between a man and a woman, our God-given gender does matter. Males and females are given distinct, complementary characteristics that reflect the image and nature of the God who made them.

Because all people are loved by God and made in His image, every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31) regardless of their gender, race, background, or sexual orientation. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual do not reflect a biblical standard or the culture of First Baptist Church, Dawson Creek. They will not be tolerated in our community of faith.

Marriage and Sexuality

We value relationships at First Baptist Church, Dawson Creek. We desire to build bridges of relationship which bear the weight of God’s truth. We live in a time when it is quite likely that someone will want to know the way in which we support relationships at our church, especially as they impact marriage, sexuality, and gender.

Because of the immense importance the Bible places upon marriage, First Baptist Church, Dawson Creek has a passion for the sanctity and permanence of marriage. It was God’s idea from the beginning of time for a man and woman to unite their lives as one. And God very wisely warns couples not to unite if they do not share spiritual values, such as a personal relationship with Him.

Basic to this is our understanding from Colossians 1:16, “Everything was created through [Jesus] and for Him.” Consequently, Christians are not called to the modern extreme focus on personal freedom, self-reliance, and independence of our age. Rather, we are told, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body.” (I Corinthians 6:19-20).

Practically, we believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. As followers of Jesus, we believe that God is the originator and designer of marriage, that He has communicated His design through the Bible, and that His design is binding on how we define and practice marriage.

We are aware that such marriage relationships are being challenged by our culture. However, in our family of Baptist churches across Canada we believe marriage is reserved for the formalized, covenant relationship between one man and one woman. Each man and woman who commit themselves through legal declaration to exclusive, intimate companionship and sexual union with life long caring and dedication to each other.

Conclusion

This means that if someone in our church family was actively living contrary to any of these beliefs in what Scripture refers to as unrepentant sin, we would not affirm that person for church leadership. Our goal is to live according to II Corinthians 5:15 (NLT), “[Jesus] died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

All people are loved by God and made in His image, and regardless of their gender, race, background, or sexual orientation, every person will be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31) by our church. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual do not reflect a biblical standard or the culture of First Baptist Church, Dawson Creek. Again, they will not be tolerated in our community of faith.

Last updated: March 1st, 2026