Gordon College Reaffirms Ban on Homosexual Behavior

Gordon College has found itself the center of controversy and news lately, but that isn’t changing the school’s commitment to the ban at the center of the situation.

According to the Boston Business Journal, in Lindsay explained to the college community via an email that the school’s board of trustees had voted unanimously to support the Life and Conduct Statement which, among other things, states that “homosexual practice, will not be tolerated in the lives of Gordon community members, either on or off campus.”

The full clause states:

Those words and actions which are expressly forbidden in Scripture, including but not limited to blasphemy, profanity, dishonesty, theft, drunkenness, sexual relations outside marriage, and homosexual practice, will not be tolerated in the lives of Gordon community members, either on or off campus.

The BBJ article also says that Lindsay’s email explained the trustees plan to “draft a ’fuller statement on the college’s understanding of sexuality’ as it relates to the school’s mission as a Christian institution.”

In an interview with Christianity Today in December 2014, Lindsay said the college’s leadership was navigating difficult waters as it attempted to remain true to its theological beliefs while being sensitive to the concerns expressed over the policy.

“It’s my hope that we can learn from each other,” he said in the interview. “Gordon cares deeply about bearing authentic witness to our faith. That requires the posture of Anselm: faith seeking understanding. We start with core convictions, but we’re genuinely trying to learn from folks who vehemently disagree with them. Why? I think it will help us to be truer to whom Christ has called us to be.”

Earlier this month, the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee voted to move the high school’s graduation away from Gordon College after students raised concerns about college’s views on this topic.