CHICAGO, IL (December 5) – Editor’s note: Following is the complete text of Dr. David Horner’s statement presented during a press conference Thursday at the school.
As a matter of university policy, North Park does not comment in the press on individual personnel matters or litigation. It is our understanding that a lawsuit is being filed related to our hiring practices.
North Park University is a Christian university owned and operated by the Evangelical Covenant Church; our hiring policies reflect our Christian mission and our relationship to our sponsoring denomination. These policies state that “full-time faculty are expected to be committed Christians in faith and action, as traditionally understood by the Evangelical Covenant Church.”
The perspective of the Covenant Church with respect to sexual ethics is expressed in a 1996 Annual Meeting Resolution on Human Sexuality. This resolution states in part, “God created people male and female, and provided for the marriage relationship in which two may become one. A publicly declared, legally binding marriage between one woman and one man is the one appropriate place for sexual intercourse. Heterosexual marriage, faithfulness within marriage, abstinence outside of marriage – these constitute the Christian standard.”
Church statements such as this inform our university’s decisions related to personnel and other matters.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.