(RNS) — The board of a leading evangelical seminary voted to affirm its long-standing belief that LBGTQ relationships are unbiblical during its May meeting.
But in an email to supporters Thursday (May 22), Fuller Theological Seminary’s president also acknowledged that some “faithful” Christian denominations approve of same-sex relationships, an unusual stance for an evangelical seminary.
The acknowledgment that denominations can disagree on the issue and remain faithful has led to confusion about whether married gay students who belong to affirming denominations might be allowed at the school. Or what will happen to faculty who affirm same-sex marriage.
When asked how the comments about affirming Christians might affect the seminary’s ban on LBGTQ relationships for students, a spokesperson confirmed there was no official change to policy.
“The board has made no changes to Fuller’s Community Standards, which all students commit to adhere to upon enrollment, and which states Fuller’s belief that ‘sexual union must be reserved for marriage, which is the covenant union between one man and one woman,” the school’s media contact wrote in an email to RNS.
The school’s current community standards – which apply to students, faculty and staff — also state that “sexual abstinence is required for the unmarried.”
“The seminary believes premarital, extramarital, and homosexual forms of explicit sexual conduct to be inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture,” according to the community standards.
Those standards have been tested in recent years.
In 2019, a former student sued the seminary for discrimination after she was dismissed for having violated the policy when school officials discovered she was married to another woman during a review of the student’s tax return for the financial a …