Westminster Community Life Statement

Westminster Theological Seminary sets and expects the following standards of Seminary community life: 

  • We affirm that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the ultimate guide for our values, attitudes, and behaviors in all relationships. 
  • We will seek to foster the development of spiritual maturity through maintaining a personal devotional life and through participating in community worship and prayer. 
  • We will seek to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, and in gentleness, patience, and humility, accept one another in love. 
  • We will seek to encourage one another to mature in Christlikeness by attempting to speak the truth in love in the classrooms, in business affairs, in social relationships, and in all other areas of our common life. 
  • We will seek to encourage unity in families through responsible relationships. 
  • We will seek to respect and encourage our uniqueness in Christ, which includes our diversity of denomination, race, culture, personality, experience, gifts, and goals. 
  • We will seek to become involved individually and corporately with the Church in ministering to spiritual and social needs within and beyond our own community. 
  • We renounce attitudes such as greed, jealousy, false pride, lust, bitterness, hostility, an unforgiving spirit, and prejudice such as that based on race, sex, and academic or socio-economic status. 
  • We renounce behaviors such as distortion of God's Word, deception, falsehood, drunkenness, stealing, and sexual immorality such as premarital intercourse, adultery and homosexual behavior. Violations of these moral standards, such as, for example, sexual misconduct or unrepentant lying, will be treated as any other policy violation and will be subject to disciplinary action, including expulsion from school and/or termination of employment. 
  • We believe where conflict or sin occurs in the Westminster community, a biblical process such as stated in Matthew 18:15-20 should be followed to seek correction, forgiveness, restitution and reconciliation. Instances of crime and reported discrimination and harassment should be addressed following the Seminary’s crime-reporting policy and its policy on discrimination and harassment. 
  • We will seek to practice an attitude of mutual submission according to the mind of Christ, recognizing that at times our personal rights and preferences must be put aside for the sake of others' conscience and the good of the community. 
  • We will seek to encourage the cultivation of such spiritual attitudes as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.