American Council of Christian Churches
84th Annual Convention, October 21-23, 2025
Bible Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, NC
Resolution on Childlessness
After the creation of the world, God instituted marriage (Gen. 2:24) and instructed mankind to “be fruitful, and multiply, and [fill] the earth, and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). God repeated this command after the global flood (Gen. 9:7, 1 Tim 5:14) and explained that “children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate” (Ps. 127:3-4). God also said that “everyone that feareth the Lord” shall be blessed, particularly “thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. . . . Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children” (Ps. 128:1, 3-4, 6). Many of God’s people have experienced the literal fulfillment of this passage during their earthly sojourns.
Some, though, have sought to be fruitful and multiply but have been providentially hindered (1 Sam. 1:5). Sadly, most societies have treated involuntary infertility with reproach (Job 24:21, Luke 1:25). Barren women especially have been despised (Gen. 16:4, 1 Sam. 1:7), ostracized, marginalized, divorced, and/or miserably comforted (Job 16:2, James 2:16). Many churches even contribute to this problem. Pastors occasionally offer prayers in worship services for parents and children (especially during baptisms, dedications, and Mother’s and Father’s Days), but rarely, if ever, for the barren. Sunday School classes sometimes split into “life stages” with no suitable place for the childless. Families with children regularly fellowship together, at times overlooking the infertile. In effect, “the eye [has said] unto the hand, ‘I have no need of thee’” (1 Cor. 12:21).
On the other hand, some couples have disregarded the procreation mandate. In the Old Testament, Onan married Tamar, the wife of his departed brother, but refused to impregnate her (Gen. 38:9). Likewise, many today choose voluntary childlessness via contraceptives, abortifacients, or sterilization, citing the economy, pleasure, travel, hobbies, fear, climate change, population control, career goals, ministry opportunities, and changing gender roles as their reasons. Thanks in large part to feminism, these DINK (Dual Income, No Kids) couples view children as an inconvenience, and in many cases replace them with pets.[1]
Therefore, the American Council of Christian Churches at its 84th annual convention, October 21-23, 2025, at Bible Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, NC, resolves to stand against the rising tide of feminism and intentional infertility. The Lord is angry with husbands and wives who refuse to bear any children. They may seemingly “gain the whole world” (Matt. 16:26), but like Onan, they will not go unpunished (Gen. 38:10). We urge all such to repent of their sin and look to Christ for forgiveness. He will pardon all who turn to Him.
We also exhort fruitful Christians to have compassion on those who are involuntarily infertile, especially the longer they carry this affliction (1 Tim. 5:3-10). Lacking irrefutable evidence, barrenness ought not be viewed as a punishment for sin (Job 18:19-21) but as a means for the “works of God [to be] made manifest” in His people (John 9:2-3), either by removing the trial or by giving sustaining grace (Gen. 21:2, 1 Sam. 1:19, Luke 1:24, 2 Cor. 12:7-10). “There should be no schism” in churches between the fertile and the involuntarily infertile, but “members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:25-26). Each believer ought to be valued as a member of “the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part” (Eph. 4:16).[2]
[1] “The Childfree Life” issue of Time Magazine (ideas.time.com, 8/12/2013); Oliver Olsen, “DINKs and the American Dream,” Institute for Family Studies (ifstudies.org, 9/24/2024); Mary Harrington, Feminism Against Progress (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2023), 41-46; Jessica Klein, “The child-free couples who treat their pets like children,” BBC (bbc.com, 9/2/2019).
[2] While everyone is commanded to (1) honor their parents (Eph. 6:2), (2) assemble for corporate worship on the Lord’s Day (Heb. 10:25), (3) teach the younger generations (Titus 2:4), (4) pray for all sorts of people (2 Tim. 2:1-2), and (5) rejoice at the temporal or spiritual prosperity of other believers (1 Cor. 12:26), charity ought to be extended (1 Cor. 13) to barren couples as they prayerfully consider indifferent matters such as participating in adoption, foster care, and ethical fertility treatments, ministering in formalized church nurseries and youth programs, and attending gender reveal parties, baby showers, and Mother’s and Father’s Day celebrations (Romans 14).
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