The College Fix

Jobs safe at some schools if employee’s spouse commits adultery or ‘desertion’

What used to be a no-tolerance policy for divorce or adultery among faculty and staff at Christian colleges is softening into an “it depends” policy at some schools – even those whose religious traditions condemn such practices.

The board of trustees at 4,500-student Abilene Christian University, which is affiliated with the socially conservative Churches of Christ, voted last month to retain President Phil Schubert as he goes through a divorce, the school paper The Optimist reported.

In an email to faculty and staff posted by the Christian Chronicle, which is also associated with the Churches of Christ, Chairman Barry Packer said the board’s responsibility “is to make decisions that best align ACU with its critical mission and Christ-centered heritage,” repeatedly emphasizing prayer, “wisdom and discernment.”

Packer said Schubert and his wife “have experienced challenges,” and while “marriage is created by God,” the trustees “believe strongly in the power of grace in a broken world and the call to be peacemakers.”

The trustees have “agonized” over whether to let Schubert remain president – a post he assumed in 2010 – but after “praying fervently and investing significant time in dialogue … we are confident he is a man of deep integrity, is pursuing God, and that his leadership will continue to bless ACU,” Packer said.

The university has declined to share any details about the divorce, though the Chronicle said the Schuberts – married 22 years – cited irreconcilable differences in papers filed at Taylor County District Court.

Schubert’s position may be more secure because the Churches of Christ is not a formal denomination with central governance and authority over Abilene Christian. It’s a network of self-governing congregations that claim the Bible as their sole authority but have no formal creeds.

The Idaho-based Internet Ministries is the informal hub for Churches of Christ resources on evangelism, congregational directories and theology – even a dating website – but its founder made clear to The College Fix that there was no simple answer on whether Schubert should remain president.

“I cannot explain to you if it is acceptable because that would take hours on end – it is not an easy conversation to have,” Silbano Garcia said in a phone interview. The Churches of Christ stance “would basically be what the Bible says. We believe what the Bible speaks and the Bible says we hate adultery.”

Abilene Christian isn’t the only religious school judging divorce on a case-by-case basis, and the association that represents Christian colleges doesn’t appear to have formal policies either.

Nondenominational Wheaton College lets faculty and staff stay employed “when there is reasonable evidence that the circumstances that led to the final dissolution of the marriage related to desertion or adultery on the part of the other partner,” according to Christianity Today. A Wheaton professor resigned in 2008 rather than share with administrators the details of the divorce he initiated.

Biola University, Taylor University and Gordon College – all nondenominational as well –  have policies similar to Wheaton’s, Christianity Today said.

Abilene Christian is one of the largest members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, which also includes Biola, Taylor and Gordon.

Charles Pollard, chairman of the council’s board and president of John Brown University, declined to tell The College Fix what guidance if any the council gives its members on handling infidelity, divorce and abuse by faculty or staff. Vice chair Barry Corey, the president of Biola, told The College Fix he was not authorized to speak for the council on the issue.

The Supreme Court affirmed a “ministerial exception” to antidiscrimination laws in 2012, giving faith-based organizations and churches a shield against their employees suing for discrimination.

College Fix contributor Samantha Watkins is a student at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter

IMAGES: Dan Iggers/Flickr, Keithimus/Wikimedia Commons