51The Covenant Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 2 (May 2016)

Over recent months, the undersigned members of NPTS faculty have formulated the following statement in response to the debates in the nation concerning race and the justice system. We were moved 
to do so because of the tragic incidents in Ferguson and elsewhere, and we 
wished to add our own voices to others on the North Park campus and in 
the Evangelical Covenant Church calling for change. We also noted and 
supported the engagement of many of our own students in actions calling 
for just treatment for all. This statement is far from the first to be issued on 
this topic in the world of theological education, but we hope that to publish 
our statement now is all the more timely in a context where the media news 
cycle is gradually prioritizing other concerns and paying less attention to 
these matters.

As faculty of North Park Theological Seminary we join our voice to 
those of our university, denomination, neighborhood, city, and nation 
and declare unequivocally: Black lives matter.

We affirm the dignity of every human being as made in the image 
of God, created to flourish physically, emotionally, spirituality, socially, 
culturally, and economically. As one body in Christ, if one part of the 
body suffers we all suffer; if one part of the body cannot breathe, none 
of us can breathe. The outcry heard on our campus and our streets 
demonstrates that the body of Christ cannot breathe. Violence against 
Black lives without sufficient cause or accountability points to a broken 
system and demands justice.

We affirm the biblical witness that God desires justice on earth (Gen-

North Park Theological Seminary 
Faculty Statement on Race and 

the Justice System

February 2015



52

esis 18:19; Deuteronomy 16:19–20; Amos 5:15–24), that Christ himself 
is the servant who proclaims justice to the nations (Matthew 12:18–21; 
cf. Isaiah 41:1–3) and whose gospel puts to death hostility between races 
(Ephesians 2:14–16), and that the Spirit intercedes as we pray that equal-
ity before the law be realized (Romans 8:26–27). When our institutions, 
our churches, and especially our justice system, do not align with these 
values, the systems—and not the values—are at fault.

As a seminary we support nonviolent forms of civil disobedience 
that show solidarity with victims of power abuses and that refuse to 
perpetuate the very cycles of violence that spawn injustice. We commit 
to striving toward creating safe places for dialogue and conversation on 
the topic of racial justice in co-curricular activities, in our classrooms, 
and in our community life. We as faculty acknowledge that the toil for 
justice is arduous and long. Nevertheless, Christians must not ignore 
any injustice; therefore, we are committed in our vocations as educators 
to teach and embody God’s heart for justice on our campus, in our city, 
and in the world.

Deb Auger Paul Koptak
Jodie Boyer-Hatlem Max Lee
Jim Bruckner Hauna Ondrey
Stephen Chester Jay Phelan
Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom Elizabeth Pierre
Paul De Neui Soong-Chan Rah
Tim Johnson Klyne Snodgrass
Dave Kersten Stephen Spencer
Ellen Kogstad