Fuller LGBTQ policy unchanged but disagreement noted

(RNS)—The board of a leading evangelical seminary voted during its May meeting to affirm its long-standing belief that LBGTQ relationships are unbiblical.

But in a May email to supporters, 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 “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.

Community Standards have been tested

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. School officials discovered she was married to another woman during a review of the student’s tax return for the financial aid process. A second expelled student joined that suit, which eventually was dismissed.

In 2024, the seminary fired Ruth Schmidt, a senior director at Fuller and graduate of the seminary, after she refused to commit to supporting the school’s views of sexuality.

Fuller President David Goatley appointed a task force to review the school’s position on sexuality and look at possible changes. A draft policy that became public last year proposed keeping Fuller official beliefs the same but allowing students from traditions that affirm LGBTQ relationships “to live with integrity consistent to the Christian communities to which they belong.”

Last week, Goatley sent out an email with an update from the May board meeting, saying the school had affirmed its current position on sexuality.

“At the same time, we acknowledge that faithful Christians—through prayerful study, spiritual discernment, and lived experience—have come to affirm other covenantal forms of relationship,” Goatley wrote in the email update.

“Some evangelicals will disagree with this acknowledgment; others will resonate deeply,” the Fuller president wrote in an op-ed published at Churchleaders.com last week about the board update.

“Recognizing such differences does not weaken our commitment to historic Christian teaching. Instead, it reflects our effort to engage complex realities with theological integrity and pastoral sensitivity.”

No new policy adopted

Neither the board update email nor Goatley’s op-ed detailed how the school’s policies on sexuality will apply in the future. He did point out the school affirms both women and men as pastors, contrasting that with the views of some evangelical seminaries that teach only men can be pastors.

In the email update, Goatley wrote he would be “working with the Board of Trustees, the administration, and the faculty to develop guidelines to continue living out our commitments.”

The school’s president told RNS the official policy would continue to apply to faculty as well as students.

“The board introduced no new policies,” he said in an emailed statement. “They confirmed the institution’s existing commitments concerning marriage and human sexuality. We anticipate that faculty will continue to serve in alignment with the mission of the seminary.”

The current community standards barring same-sex relationships remain on the school’s website, which also states that students and employees must commit to following “all of the seminary’s published policies and ethical standards.”

Some faculty at Fuller have expressed support for LGBTQ affirmation, including one high-profile Fuller professor.

Christopher Hays, who teaches Old Testament at Fuller, recently wrote The Widening of God’s Mercy, which argues for affirming LGBTQ relationships, with his father, Richard Hays, a prominent New Testament scholar who died earlier this year.

Fuller is one of the largest evangelical seminaries in the country, with 1,620 students overall enrolled this past fall—the equivalent of 714 full-time students—according to data from the Association of Theological Schools.

Of those students, 370 were enrolled in the Master of Divinity degree program, while 507 were in a Doctor of Ministry program, both designed for pastors.

The school was founded in 1947 by radio evangelist Charles Fuller, host of “The Old Fashioned Revival Hour.”