Standing in Seattle: A Christian University Is Not Bending to a Radical Agenda

Years ago, one of my cousins went on a youth campout. He and his friends had been told to bring their own food, and Bob did. He brought marshmallows.

That was all — marshmallows. Needless to say, a steady diet of soft white candy was insufficient for a weekend full of hiking and other outdoor activities. It’s sufficient to say that Bob’s lack of preparation made what could have been a fondly memorable event unforgettable — and not happily.

Sadly, many Christians are equally unprepared for the social turmoil circling around them. We seem to think that unless an issue affects us personally and immediately, it must not be that big of a deal. Until, of course, it is.

Case in point: Seattle Pacific University is affiliated with the evangelical Free Methodist denomination and is located, of course, in Seattle. I thought seriously of attending there since, having grown up in a Seattle suburb, attending the local Christian college seemed to make sense. I chose another school but over the years have known many friends and acquaintances who have gone to SPU.

Starting in May, hundreds of SPU students and their allies in the Seattle LGBTQ community conducted a “sit in” at the school demanding that SPU’s board of trustees change the institution’s “homophobic” policies. This follows an April 2021 faculty “vote of no confidence” in the trustees because they would not alter their allegiance to the Bible’s teaching on human sexuality. The vote was endorsed by 72% of the SPU’s faculty.

It is worth noting that the school’s stated policy is clear and also consistent with scriptural norms: “Employees are expected to refrain from sexual behavior that is inconsistent with the University’s understanding of Biblical standards, including cohabitation, extramarital sexual activity, and same-sex sexual activity.”

Now, Washington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) has “announced a civil rights investigation into Seattle Pacific University for refusing to hire LGBTQ+ faculty and staff.” Ferguson justifies his actions by claiming that “numerous Seattle Pacific University students, faculty, and others reached out to my office to file complaints or otherwise express deep concern that the University administration’s policies illegally violate Washingtonians’ civil rights.”

Ferguson also claims that his “office respects the religious views of all Washingtonians and the constitutional rights afforded to religious institutions. As a person of faith, I share that view.”

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