As a public declaration of our stance on the issue of homosexuality we uphold the Evangelical Alliance 2012 Report Biblical and pastoral responses to homosexuality.  For purposes of internal understanding we have extracted and recast those statements that are directly relevant to our denomination together with an explanation of terms.

We recognise that all of us are sinners, and that the only true hope for sinful people – whether homosexual or heterosexual is in Jesus Christ.

We affirm that monogamous heterosexual marriage is the form of partnership uniquely intended by God for full sexual relations between people.

We affirm God’s love and concern for all humanity, including homosexual people, but believe homoerotic sexual practice to be incompatible with His will as revealed in Scripture.

We repudiate homophobia insofar as it denotes an irrational fear or hatred of homosexuals. We do not accept, however, that to reject homoerotic sexual practice on biblical grounds is in itself homophobic.

We commend and encourage those homosexual Christian people who have committed themselves to chastity and celibacy. We believe that such people should be eligible for any office within the church.

We call upon our congregations to welcome and accept sexually active homosexual people, but to do so in the expectation that they will come in due course to see the need to change their lifestyle in accordance with biblical revelation and orthodox church teaching.  We urge gentleness and patience in this process, and ongoing care even after a homosexual person renounces same-sex sexual relations.

We believe habitual homoerotic sexual activity without repentance to be inconsistent with faithful church membership. Where someone is publicly promoting homoerotic sexual practice within a congregation, there is a case for more stringent disciplinary action.

We affirm our belief that same-sex partnerships involving homoerotic sexual practices are contrary to orthodox Biblical teaching and traditional church practice.

We recommend that those ministering in Independent Methodist Churches do not offer any form of blessing to a ‘same-sex partnership’.

We believe that human life begins at conception and that each procreated person is made uniquely in God’s image with genetic inheritance from both parents.

We believe that cloning would promote asexual reproduction using a single cell devoid of the coming together of a man and a woman to create new life.

We believe in the intrinsic worth and dignity of each individual and this would be disrupted if cloning occurred whereby the characteristics of people were deliberately selected and chosen.

We support the European Parliament’s declaration that it “solemnly reaffirms that the life and dignity of all human beings, whatever their stage of development and state of health must be respected and is opposed to any form of research or use of life sciences and biotechnology that runs counter to this fundamental principle.”

We affirm our belief that men and women are created in the image of God, that life is a God-given gift and that any abuse of that gift is a contravention of God’s law.  We applaud the work of the hospice movement in caring for and providing relief of suffering for the terminally ill and condemn efforts to introduce euthanasia, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, as an attempt to legislate against Christian morality and against the interests of both medical staff and the patients themselves.

That Freemasonry is incompatible with Christianity and therefore with Independent Methodist Principles.