(RNS) — When Ruth Schmidt enrolled at Fuller Theological Seminary in 2016, she said it was the first time she felt as if her voice mattered.
Raised in a nondenominational church in Kansas with “flavors of Southern Baptist,” Schmidt thinks of her community as compassionate but dismissive of the contributions of women pastors. But at Fuller, the 77-year-old school in Pasadena, California, known for its relative theological diversity among evangelical institutions, her calling to the ministry was never in question.
“I felt like I was seen and respected in a way that I’d never experienced anywhere else,” Schmidt said.
In January, Schmidt, a salaried employee at Fuller since 2020, was fired from her senior director position after declining to sign Fuller’s statement of faith. With her imminent ordination in the United Church of Christ, which accepts marriage for LGBTQ couples, she had balked at signing a statement that says “sexual union must be reserved for marriage, which is the covenant union between one man and one woman.”
A spokesperson from Fuller declined to discuss individual employees, but confirmed that all members of its community are required to adhere to its standards. He also quoted a community update from Fuller President David Emmanuel Goatley in which the president indicated the seminary is re-examining its policy on human sexuality.
“We can inform and inspire people to engage with civility and hospitality even in areas of disagreement,” Goatley wrote.
But Schmidt told Religion News Service that students, who are required to affirm Fuller’s faith statement, need room to discern their own beliefs, which are evolving in their seminary years.
“A lot of people enter theological education not knowing what they believe about queer Christians. And so you go through your educational journey, and at the end it’s possible you land in a different place than the school’s standards. But you don’t have to re-sign those standards when your convictions change,” said Schmidt. “That’s how so many affirming folks end up at Fuller.”
As a student, Schmidt was energized by her sexuality and ethics course, which gave her space to wrestle with her beliefs about human sexuality while in a Christian context. Eventually, Schmidt concluded she was LGBTQ-affirming.
When she was promoted to senior director in 2022, she was asked to re-sign Fuller’s community standards, which include the faith statement. At the time, she told RNS, she was in a vulnerable financial position and was still finishing her degree. If she lost her job, she couldn’t afford to stay in California, which would throw off her ordination process.
“After a lot of prayer, God gave me peace that at that moment, it was OK to sign it and not lose housing,” said Schmidt. “However, in that moment, I decided I’m never signing this again.”
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