Had IVCF acted against employees or shunned volunteers who questioned almost any orthodox creedal position of the Christian faith, it would have created earthquake tremors inside the Fellowship itself, but non-Evangelicals would have taken little notice. It happens, however, that anything to do with 21st-century Christian faith and practice and sexuality and gender themes causes the quake to quake.
At once, in polarized America, respondents within IVCF and beyond took strong positions and flooded the Internet with arguments. Readers of Sightings know that we do not approach these complex issues as agitators, propagandists, or ideologues. Instead, we ask, in this case: What is to be the reaction of those who are not hostile to Evangelicalism and who have had positive experiences with—and, frequently, high regard for—IVCF and other such fusions of intellectuality and thoughtful dedication to issues with which campus-based Christians must wrestle? Two words: sadness and regret.
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