Bishops Support Christian Unions

Senior bishops in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, as well as academics and representatives of major Christian organisations have signed a letter in which they claim that the Student Guilds/Associations, in Exeter, Birmingham and Edinburgh have changed their anti-discrimination provisions to discriminate against Christian students.

In an open letter to The Times, ten leading bishops gave their support to the Christian Unions stating that they are facing "considerable opposition and discrimination of their rights of freedom of expression, freedom of belief and freedom of association".

Christian Unions at Exeter, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Birmingham have all been either disaffiliated from their Student Union bodies, or, in the case of Edinburgh University have been prevented from teaching a Christian course on university facilities.

The letter states that, "...university student guilds and associations have a responsibility to ensure that official societies are run in a proper and lawful manner.

"However this does not give them, or anyone else, the right to restrict or change the essential beliefs of those societies, or impose as leaders people who do not share those core beliefs."

In Exeter University, the Christian Union has been forced to change its name to Evangelical Christian Union, and has been disaffiliated from the Guild of Students with all the privileges being withheld from them, including the booking of rooms. This name change developed after one student wrote to complain to the Guild of Students to state that he did not feel that the Christian Union was inclusive of all Christians due to the fact that any student wishing to become a member of the Christian Union would have to sign a declaration of belief.

The signatories, who include the Bishops of Winchester, Chester and Rochester, and the head of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF), stated: "Christian students at many of our universities are facing considerable opposition and discrimination in violation of their rights of freedom of expression, freedom of belief and freedom of association."

The Christian Union at Exeter has now sent a letter to the university authorities stating that they have sought legal advice and were ready to commence legal proceedings within 14 days unless the university authorities resolved the issue. The students belonging to the Christian Union at Birmingham University have followed a similar course of action.

Meanwhile in Scotland, both Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Christian Unions have faced opposition from their respective student associations. In Edinburgh University, the Christian Union had sought to teach the "Pure" Course on University facilities. This course promotes biblical teaching on sex and specifically that Christians should exercise sexual restraint until marriage and that a heterosexual marriage is the best setting for a sexual relationship.

The course was subsequently criticised for being homophobic and the Christian Union was banned by the university authorities from teaching this course on university facilities. At Heriot-Watt University, the Christian Union is not being permitted to affiliate with the Student Association because it requires all members to sign a statement of faith.


Signatories of the letter were:

The Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt
Bishop of Winchester
The Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali
Bishop of Rochester
The Rt Revd Peter Forster
Bishop of Chester
The Rt Rev George Cassidy
Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham
The Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill
Bishop of Lichfield
The Rt Revd Stephen Venner
Bishop of Dover
The Rt Revd Pete Broadbent
Bishop of Willesden
The Rt Revd Crispian Hollis
Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth and lead Bishop of Higher Education
Canon Dr Christina Baxter, CBE
Chairman of the House of Laity, Church of England General Synod
Professor Nigel M. de S. Cameron
Centre for Bioethics and Public Policy, London
Professor John Wyatt
Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, University College London
Dr Don Horrocks
Head of Public Affairs, Evangelical Alliance
Andrea Minichiello Williams
Public Policy Officer, Lawyers Christian Fellowship
Mr Peter Saunders
General Secretary, Christian Medical Fellowship
The Revd Richard Cunningham
Chief Executive Officer, UCCF
Dr Peter May
Chairman, Universities & Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF)