Q1. What is Calvin’s position on homosexuality and same-sex marriage?
A. Calvin College affirms the position of the Christian Reformed Church on homosexuality, which distinguishes between homosexual orientation and homosexual practice. While the orientation seems usually to lie outside the scope of an individual’s will, by God’s power and grace, behavior lies within it. All people, gay and straight, are responsible for their actions, sexual or otherwise. It is the position of the church, and by extension, Calvin College, that sexual activity belongs exclusively within the covenant of (heterosexual) marriage.
Calvin College is also concerned that homosexual members of our community are treated with respect, justice, grace and understanding in the Spirit of Christ. We recognize the complexity of current issues around homosexuality and desire to engage this conversation with courage, humility, prayerfulness and convicted civility.
Q2. How is the topic of homosexuality handled in the classroom?
A. Because human sexuality and sexual orientation are matters of great importance in our daily experience and in culture, they are often addressed in courses across the academic departments of the college. These topics are studied from multiple perspectives: literature and arts, political science, biology, theology, biblical studies, psychology, sociology, education, history, global studies, and so on. As in each class at Calvin, professors aim to help students understand a range of approaches to these topics, identify underlying assumptions that anchor each approach, evaluate these assumptions in light of our Christian faith and Reformed worldview, and begin to craft personal and corporate commitments consistent with their calling to be agents of renewal in the church and culture. In exploring the full range of human experience, faculty will certainly acquaint students with many perspectives that are inconsistent with the confessions, but will do so from a perspective of adherence to the confessions.
Q3. How does academic freedom work with Calvin’s commitment to the confessions?
A. At Calvin College our teaching, writing, and scholarship, in other words our exercise of academic freedom, is bound by the authority of scripture as seen through the lens of the Reformed confessions (the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort). This simply means that the Bible will guide our work and lives in all that we do. The college has recently produced a new and thorough articulation of the importance of academic freedom and the Reformed confessions, titled “Confessional Commitments and Academic Freedom at Calvin College.” This document, approved by the faculty and the board of trustees, can be found at http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/documents/statement.pdf
Q4. What will the college do when there is disagreement about what the Bible says on a particular topic?
A. While we may wish for Christians to be in perfect agreement, we all know that serious, committed Christ-followers disagree on occasion. There can be a thousand points of agreement, but institutions and communities still need a process to follow so that when there is a disagreement all parties can be treated with fairness and respect. Having such a process helps us not to lose sight of the fruits of the Spirit in our discussions, whether we are speaking or writing.
In May 2010 the Calvin College faculty and board of trustees unanimously approved a document called “Strengthening Procedures around Confessional Commitment and Academic Freedom” http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/documents/procedures.pdf. This document clarifies and improves the process we use for examining difficult topics - whether that of homosexuality or any other topic where there may be potential differences of approach. The document’s recommendations will become part of the faculty handbook, so that expectations are clear and spelled out for everyone. These developments make us better equipped to embrace our mission to be agents of reconciliation and renewal in God’s world.
Q5. What guidance has the board of trustees given the college about homosexuality?
A. In May 2008 Calvin’s board of trustees composed a Statement on Homosexuality and Community Life to help the college discuss issues relating to homosexuality out of a common Christian framework. The document states:
Calvin College has operated, both implicitly and explicitly, in matters of human sexuality within the framework adopted by the Christian Reformed Church, including the CRC’s position on homosexuality. This position includes three important components: it laments the treatment of gay and lesbian persons by many in the Christian community, it commends the active encouragement and support of gay and lesbian persons, and it prohibits sexual practice outside of heterosexual marriage.
The college has attempted to honor these components through its condemnation of any harassment of students based on sexual orientation, by active support of gay and lesbian students, and via direct teaching related to the position of the church.
Our key values for engaging controversial issues, which are often surrounded by polarized, emotionally-charged rhetoric, are as follows:
- We work, live, teach and learn under the authority of scripture and our commitment to the Reformed confessions.
- We seek to model institutional integrity.
- We are committed to academic freedom in the context of our confessional commitments.
- We uphold the biblical mandate of sexual chastity and faithfulness for all people.
- We encourage vital Christian witness with conviction and humility.
- We work in a relationship of mutual accountability with the CRC.
In addition, the board and faculty have both approved two new college documents, “Confessional Commitments and Academic Freedom at Calvin College,” and “Strengthening Procedures around Confessional Commitment and Academic Freedom” (see questions 3 and 4).
Q6. What does the college do when a student realizes they have an attraction to the same gender?
A. The Christian Reformed Church considers that homosexual orientation is generally not chosen and is not a sin. Following this understanding, Calvin College believes that students who deal with same-sex attraction are best supported if they are able to share their questions, struggles or their self-understanding with trusted others. Wrestling in isolation is never the preferred route for God's people; community support is vital.
The Broene Counseling Center runs a voluntary support group for gay and lesbian students, overseen by an experienced counselor. This is just one of several community support groups available to students through the counseling center on a variety of issues - depression, parental divorce, anxiety, body image, pornography, alcohol abuse and others.
On a practical level, if there is a roommate issue for a student concerning same-sex attraction, residence life staff will seek appropriate changes in residential living arrangements, in collaboration with the students involved.
In accordance with our understanding of the Bible, sex outside of heterosexual marriage is proscribed by the student conduct code and will result in disciplinary action for any student, whether heterosexual or homosexual.
Q7. How does the college provide a safe and respectful community for students with same-sex attraction?
A. Calvin students are expected to treat one another with respect and loving concern. Insults, slurs and other forms of derogatory speech have no place in a Christian community. Through staff training, peer education and example we seek to educate students about the harm caused by disrespectful or flippant speech around this topic.
Q8. What is SAGA?
A. SAGA (Sexuality Awareness, Gender Acceptance), is an outgrowth of the Broene Counseling Center support group and includes students who are heterosexual but may have a gay relative or friend. It is not a ‘student organization,’ but a group of students with a counselor mentor from the Broene Counseling Center, who seek to educate others at Calvin about the challenges faced by homosexual students. Similar groups are the Sexual Assault Prevention Team (SAPT), also organized by the Broene Counseling Center, and the Multicultural Student Advisory Board, overseen by Multicultural Student Development.
Q9. Does Calvin invite speakers to talk about homosexuality and same-sex marriage?
A. Calvin invites a variety of speakers to campus to address a broad range of educational topics, including issues of same-sex attraction and homosexuality. In all our discussions, a biblical worldview is the operative framework. As the CRC’s 2002 synodical report exhorts, we seek to “engage in some thought and reflection to help our denomination in its ministry to and with homosexuals.” We recognize that even talking about homosexuality opens the door for Calvin College to be misrepresented, but Christian leaders are needed more than ever on this important cultural issue. Our denomination expects its college students to become equipped to engage issues and people Christianly, intelligently, courageously, and compassionately—both as students and as graduates.
Q10. How are Calvin’s responsibilities different from those of a church?
A. Calvin College is an educational institution and not a church. As a Reformed Christian liberal arts college, we seek to prepare our students for effective engagement with God’s world, a world he created good but that has been distorted by human sin. Calvin students are challenged to examine their assumptions in many areas and to re-examine them in the light of God’s cosmic story of creation, fall, redemption, and reconciliation. A Reformed worldview proclaims that Christ is Lord over all, and encourages students to investigate and test everything, holding onto the good and rejecting what is false. A college’s responsibility is to expose and discover different points of view in order to evaluate them in light of scripture, and to develop critical thinking. Being at the crossroads of ideas may seem risky to some, but it is vital if we are to offer our students an education that is both Christian, Reformed, and able to engage with the complexities of the world we live in.
Q11. Can both homosexuals and heterosexuals live chaste lives in the power of the Holy Spirit?
A. As Christians our core identity is in our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is out of this identity as God’s people that we are all called to live holy lives. Our sexual identity is just one of many aspects of our personhood.
Christian discipleship is not differentiated on the basis of sexual orientation. Christians are called to rely on the Holy Spirit for the power to live chaste lives as sexual human beings. Heterosexuals as well as homosexuals can live lives characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, turning away from temptation. If we do fall, we know that despite our sin and brokenness God offers his children abundant forgiveness and grace. We must avoid making assumptions about a person’s sexual behavior based on stereotypes that are current in our surrounding culture.
Q12. Where can I learn more about the CRC’s position on homosexuality?
A. The report of the Committee to Study Homosexuality (1973) can be found at http://www.crcna.org/site_uploads/uploads/resources/synodical/1973_report_homosexuality.pdf
The report of the Committee to Give Direction about and for Pastoral Care for Homosexual
Members, Pastoral Care for Homosexual Members (2002), can be found at http://www.crcna.org/site_uploads/uploads/resources/synodical/2002_report_careforhomosexuals.pdf
