Contrary to the implication of the article entitled, Relaxing Over Drinks in the December 2013 issue of Christianity Today, Asbury Theological Seminary’s current ethos statement continues to embrace an alcohol free campus, including all our residence halls as it has since our founding in 1923. The 2010 change to our ethos statement actually broadens our community understanding of holiness to embrace both personal and social dimensions. Furthermore, our community ethos is now more firmly rooted in the 18th century Wesleyan covenant which takes the seminary out of a more collegiate in loco parentis role to a more appropriate graduate model of mutual accountability for the whole community. While it is true that we reframed our position on alcohol, it is unfair to characterize our position as “relaxing over drinks” as your heading implies. On the contrary, we have deepened and broadened our historic commitment to holiness by moving it beyond a handful of issues, to a mature life lived in purity before God and the world, and in covenant with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Timothy C. Tennent, PhD
President
Asbury Theological Seminary

A link to our ethos statement can be found here: http://asburyseminary.edu/about/our-theological-orientation/our-ethos/