ABILENE, TEXAS - Abilene Christian University students, faculty and staff members engaged in peaceful conversations with about 35 gay-rights demonstrators during a planned visit recently.

The Soulforce Equality Riders stopped at the church of Christ-associated university in March as part of a 20-stop bus tour promoting greater understanding of issues relating to homosexuals. “Abilene Christian  University has extended a warm welcome to the Soulforce Equality Ride,” the gay- rights group said on its Web site.

Heather Alkire, a junior elementary education major at ACU, said: “I know that many hours were spent in prayer and discussion over this issue, and I think that as a university, we extended Christ-like love to the members of Soulforce without compromising our scriptural beliefs.”

Alkire said the discussion helped her examine her “response as a Christian to this issue and the people affected by it.”

“It is a testament to academic freedom, democracy and Christianity that ACU was willing to engage in this dialogue with us,” Haven Herrin, 24-year-old co-director of the Soulforce Equality Ride, told The Optimist, ACU’s student newspaper.

Mike O’Neal, president of Oklahoma Christian University, whose policies on homosexuality also have drawn criticism from Soulforce, praised ACU’s response.

“The people of ACU truly lived out the mission of Christian higher education in treating these people as beloved of God, but not compromising the truth regarding the behavior being promoted,” O’Neal said. “I am grateful that the only messages they heard from our brethren were messages of love and responsive obedience.”

Wayne Barnard, ACU dean of campus life, said the group’s visit allowed all sides to move past stereotypes about Christians and homosexuals.

“In society and around the world, one of our greatest struggles is painting groups of people with the same brush,” Barnard told the campus paper. “Not every Christian school is alike; not every gay person is alike.”

Soulforce notified ACU in early January that its campus would be included in the cross-country bus tour designed to discourage discrimination and violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals and promote greater acceptance.

“After careful consideration and discussions about who we are as a university, we decided the best way to affirm our core Christian values would be to treat Soulforce as Christ would — to have peaceful, patient dialogue about these issues while respectfully and clearly articulating why we believe as we do,” ACU President Royce Money said.

During the visit, the Equality Riders and ACU students and employees discussed topics related to discrimination and violence toward homosexuals, as well as theological implications of homosexual behavior. In each session, ACU faculty and administrators helped facilitate the dialogue and guide the discussion.

“Our students were kind, and they engaged in lively conversations, asked thoughtful questions and showed Jesus to the visitors to our campus,” said Michelle Morris, ACU vice president for university relations. “Members of Soulforce, though strongly disagreeing with us on key issues, listened and responded respectfully. Although both Soulforce and the ACU community recognized that we would leave the day with continuing disagreements on issues, we listened to one another’s hearts.”

May 1, 2006