Augsburg University and Augsburg Campus Ministries have been proud to be Reconciling in Christ since 2004.
As a university of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Augsburg leans into our Lutheran traditional and biblical understanding of God’s love in Christ. Through Christ, we are all brought into right relationship with God and live out of our Christian freedom and responsibility in the world. Our Lutheran identity guides us in a rooted yet open posture, where an attitude of openness and acceptance is promoted throughout the university across all of our religious, sexual, racial, and class identities. In this diversity we recognize the variety of viewpoints on social issues and strive to cultivate relationships and understanding through conversation while honoring our beliefs and commitments through our faith in Christ Jesus.
We honor and celebrate the ELCA’s 2009 social statement, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust. As a result, the Campus Ministries Office strives to support all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions as full participants in the life of the church. This includes, but is not limited to: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual individuals and their families. Augsburg and its pastors host and preside over same sex marriages in our sacred spaces on campus, including Hoversten and Gundale Chapel; we honor and celebrate all forms of family.
We also honor and celebrate the ELCA’s 1993 social statement, Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture. With the wider church, we commit to confront racism; to engage in public leadership, witness, and deliberation on these matters; and to advocate for justice and fairness for all people. We understand that this is an ever evolving mission and task in the world, and strive to promote continuing anti-racism education and actions on campus.