Baptist university blocks pro-gay churches from campus event – Washington Examiner

A Baptist-affiliated university in Alabama has outraged a segment of its alumni after announcing two pro-same-sex marriage churches would be barred from the school’s campus ministry fair.

Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, blocked two local churches affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and the Episcopal Church respectively from partaking in the “Church and Ministry Expo” on the university’s campus last month, according to AL.com.

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The restriction on the two churches was reportedly a marked departure from previous years when both congregations had been permitted to send chaplains to the campus.

The move drew condemnation from Students, Alumni, and Faculty for Equality Samford, which said the university was taking a “far-right turn” and compared it to the notoriously conservative Liberty University.

“If Samford doesn’t turn back to the way it was before, this will have signaled a very far right turn à la a Liberty University type of college, which is not what Samford has been for decades,” the group’s founder, Brit Blalock, said, according to Inside Higher Education. “It’s been much more of a middle-of-the-road, very liberal arts college. This would be a vast departure from that.”

Philip Kemry, the university’s vice president of student affairs, defended the school’s actions in a letter to students, saying, “The university has a responsibility to formally partner with ministry organizations that share our beliefs.”

“Samford University is a Christ-centered university welcoming students from many theological and ecclesiastical traditions, including students who profess no faith background,” Kemry wrote. “We endeavor to provide all students with an education that thoughtfully integrates Christian faith and learning. We are welcoming of all denominations and have no policy or plan to restrict any denominations from our campus.”

Kemry noted that the university currently maintains ministry partnerships with numerous denominations, including a Catholic student organization, and Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian churches.

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“I recognize that the university’s choices about with whom we partner in student ministry may disappoint some,” he wrote. “Please know that those decisions are made prayerfully and with the university’s theological commitments in mind. Regardless, we desire to see every student grow in their Christian faith, and we want all students to experience the love of Christ on this campus.”

The university did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.