Statement on the Sanctity of Human Life and Christian Morality
Adopted by the Session of the First Presbyterian Church
Oostburg, Wisconsin
April 7, 2008
The First Presbyterian Church of Oostburg desires to uphold the sanctity of human life as well as
the moral guidelines given to us by our God in Scripture as they pertain to marriage and families.
For the Christian, abortion is primarily a spiritual matter, and we believe that:
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Every human life is the creation of God, uniquely created in His image (Genesis
1:26-27)
God is sovereign over all life, He knows us, has a plan for our lives, call us, and
relates to us while we are still in the womb. (Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Isaiah
49:1; Isaiah 44:24)
In deciding to take the life of a person, born or unborn, we set ourselves in the place of God,
usurping His sovereignty over and plan for that human life.
We hold that from the very beginning of life at conception to God’s final call at natural death,
every life is to be respected, honored and protected. We stand against abortion, infanticide,
euthanasia and any other practice which would devalue human life.
We support and encourage adoption as an alternative to abortion in pregnancies which pose a
problem or hardship. We are committed to a ministry of support, compassion, grace, love,
forgiveness and healing to all who deal with the aftermath of an abortion decision. God has
commanded us to bear one another’s burdens. (Gal. 6:2)
We want to also affirm our desire to nurture the lives of the born as well as the unborn, as we
seek to actively support programs that provide necessary resources and services to needy
children and their families, as well as to those children with handicaps and their families.
We affirm Christian morality including chastity before marriage and faithfulness in marriage
which strengthens the bonds of families, the basic social unit of all human institutions designed
to propagate, protect and nurture human life.