Standing on our ancient Christian beliefs, committed to our doctrinal standards stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith and declared in our Statement of Faith which espouse the supremacy of the Holy Scriptures; Evangelical Reformed Church affirms our religion’s principles of liberty of conscience, our honoring and preserving of human life from conception to natural death, and the sovereignty of individuals and families in medical and healthcare decision making.
Therefore, we state our unequivocal support for the right of refusal of mandatory medical procedures, whether ordered by a branch of civil government, an employer, or any other institution to which a congregant is subject or dependent—in the event that an individual sincerely believes his or her faith, life, health, wellbeing, or morality is potentially threatened by such procedures or products, or in the event that a parent has the same concern for his or her child.
We affirm that our Christian religion protects the liberty of individuals and families to refuse any medical procedure or product on the basis of sincerely held concerns for known or unknown side effects, experimental or emergency or FDA approved uses, potential involvement in fetal cell lines whether in development or testing, or medical and/or political corruption or coercion.
Therefore, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we defend the rights and responsibilities of our congregants to research these issues in consultation with their medical providers in order to make responsible medical decisions for themselves, including refusing vaccination or gene therapies on religious grounds. And we hereby call upon all governments, schools, employers, and other institutions to respect these deeply held religious convictions by upholding this religious liberty and/or providing religious exemptions as requested.
Rich Hamlin
Senior Pastor
Henry Flowers
Associate Pastor
Jim Howard
Elder
Ron Nelson
Elder