PRESS RELEASE
The East Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Responds to The High Court of Dominica’s decision of April 22, 2020, regarding Sections 14 & 16 of the Sexual Offences Act.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Dominica has become aware of the Dominica High Court’s April 22, 2024, ruling declaring that sections 14 & 16 of the Sexual Offences Act which criminalizes homosexual sex, is unconstitutional. Seventh-day Adventists believe that sexual intimacy belongs only to the marital relationship of a man and a woman and that any sexual relationship outside of that context is sinful, wrong, and immoral.
We wish to be unequivocal that the Seventh-day Adventist Church holds that
all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, are loved by God and the church.
We do not condone singling out any group for scorn, ridicule, or abuse.
Still, God’s Word that transcends time and culture does not permit a homosexual
Lifestyle.
The implications of the recent ruling of the High Court run counter to our Biblical
and theological understanding. The Court’s decision opens the door, as it
has elsewhere, for the future legalizing of same-sex unions and marriages in Dominica
and therefore has the potential to put faith-based organizations that share our
stance on marriage in a compromising position. Consequently, we foresee a time
when religious leaders may be asked to officiate weddings of same-sex couples.
To perform such marriages, for Seventh-day Adventists, would be untenable.
We also reaffirm, without hesitation, our long-standing position as expressed in the
Church’s Fundamental Beliefs: “Marriage was divinely established in Eden and
Jesus affirmed a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship.” The monogamous union in the marriage of a man and a woman is the only morally appropriate locus of genital or related intimate sexual expression.
Further, we have also observed that in some places where this first step has been
taken, there follows a movement towards variance in the education system that
calls for curriculum amendment and changed organizational practice that would
also run counter to the educational philosophy of faith-based schools operated
by us and others. While some may argue that this thinking is premature we have
chosen to be proactive in or respond to what we see as likely future developments
surrounding this present decision.