Following the controversy surrounding the sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit filed against Seattle Pacific University in 2021 and questions surrounding the university’s Statement on Human Sexuality, the SPU LGBTQIA+ Work Group formed to help create solutions for the university.

The group has met four times so far to discuss these issues of faith, with the latest meeting  held on Feb. 22. Representative and sociology department co-chair, Dr. Kevin Neuhouser, described some of the group’s conversations during the meeting.

“We were mainly focusing on the different documents and policies, and doing some thought experiments, to see what kind of changes we could make, while wondering if we had to change anything else to do so,” Neuhouser said.

More specifically, Neuhouser said that the statement on human sexuality was discussed in particular during the meeting.

“We were examining our options, to see which were reasonable and made the most sense,” Neuhouser said. “We did however spend a fair amount of time talking about lifestyle expectations, as well as the Statement on Human Sexuality, its origins, and how its use has now changed over time.”

He also explained that while some document changes are being debated, others seem to be unanimously agreed upon.

“At this point, we haven’t talked about changing any particular wording, but changes in a particular direction. We talked about the kinds of changes we could make for lifestyle expectations,” Neuhouser said. “One document we have had no discussion about, however, is the statement of faith. There is still a strong commitment to SPU’s statement of faith.”

Neuhouser said that the university hopes to work towards being a safe space for the entire community, even amidst disagreements about policies.

“We believe that SPU is a safe place for people of all sexualities to share and exchange ideas, but obviously not everyone feels that way, and that’s really hard to hear,” Neuhouser said. “Regardless of what recommendations come from the work group, we still have a lot of work to do to be better at disagreeing while loving each other.”

“This is a moment in which SPU is trying as hard as it can to do better and live up to our mission to be a Christian liberal arts University that is both faithful to following Jesus, but also dedicated to loving everyone in our community,” Neuhouser said.

Though there are still no resolutions to the disagreements on the Statement on Human Sexuality, Neuhouser hopes that the work group’s efforts are recognized by the SPU community.

“I’m optimistic that our recommendations will be helpful to the board,” Neuhouser said.”I know students are somewhat distant from the process, so it’s not easy to feel hopeful, but I hope that they would believe that there are people that are trying their best to find a way forward that’s good for everyone.”