Statement from Wheaton College Faculty and Staff
Concerning the January 6 Attack on the Capitol
The January 6 attack on the Capitol was characterized not only by vicious lies, deplorable violence, white supremacy, white nationalism, and wicked leadership—especially by President Trump—but also by idolatrous and blasphemous abuses of Christian symbols. The behaviors that many participants celebrated in Jesus’ name bear absolutely no resemblance to the Christian teachings or ethics that we submit to as faculty and staff of Wheaton College. Furthermore, the differential treatment displayed by those with a duty to protect in their engagement with rioters who trespassed on the Capitol grounds illegally, when compared to recent protests over police brutality in D.C. last summer, illustrates the ongoing reality that systemic racism in our country is tragically and undeniably alive and well. These realities are reprehensible. Our Christian faith demands shining a light on these evils and the simultaneous commitment to take appropriate action.
In the days and weeks preceding January 6, many more leaders, including many evangelical leaders, could have spoken truth to the disillusioned supporters of President Trump—diminishing the prospects for violence and bolstering the witness of Christian love and the call for justice in our civic life. Some did. However, many wittingly propagated lies, or were unduly silent in a just cause. Our Christian faith demands greater courage.
We repent of our own failures to speak and to act in accordance with justice, and we lament the failures of the Church to teach clearly and to exercise adequate church discipline in these areas. Moreover, we grieve over the inadequate level of discipleship that has made room for this type of behavior among those who self-identify as Christian. We pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us all manner of idolatry, and we commit to speaking plainly against it wherever and whenever we find it. We commit ourselves to a more faithful witness in our callings as the faculty and staff of Wheaton College, and will work diligently to provide ample opportunities to show students, as well as the larger Wheaton College and Christian community, how to practice discernment in civic engagement, to demonstrate the connections between love and justice, and to courageously communicate the truth—even and especially when the truth is difficult to hear.
We pray that, in so doing, we will fulfill the Lord’s requirement of us: “To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before our God” (Micah 6:8).
Click here if you are a member of the Wheaton College faculty and staff (including emeritus faculty) and would like to add your signature.
Signed,
- Andrew Abernethy
- Arielle Akines
- Kathryn Alexander
- Manette Aloba
- Alice Ames
- Benjamin Andrews
- Kent Annan
- Kelly Arensen
- Dean E. Arnold
- Jamie Aten
- Laura Atkinson
- Charles Audino
- Josh Avery
- Vincent Bacote
- Becky Baker
- Mandy Baraka
- Pam Barger
- Les Barker
- Sharenda Barlar
- Beth Bauer
- Amy Becker Karl
- Jim Beitler
- Xavier Beteta
- Robert C. Bishop
- Amy E. Black
- Jeremy Botts
- Stephen N. Bretsen
- Linda Bretz
- Natasha Brown
- Gary M. Burge
- Johann Buis
- Aubrey Buster
- Candyce J. Cabral
- Sheila Caldwell
- Emma Camillone
- Terrance Campbell
- Joel Campau
- Sally Schwer Canning
- Betsy Carr
- Mary Carrington
- Nathan Cartagena
- Crystal Cartwright
- Stephen Cartwright
- Ray Chang
- Litong Chen
- Derek Chignell
- Jordan Christner
- Seth Chun
- Forrest Clements
- Christine Colón
- Ashley Condra
- Danielle Corple
- Angela Dallakoti
- Dana Daly
- Denise Daniels
- Heidi Mitchell Daniels
- Raashon Daniels
- Pamela Daum
- Melody David
- Edward (Ward) B. Davis
- Allison Dick
- Jennifer Doty
- Nancy Duarte
- Eric M. Durbin
- Karin Edwards
- Ellen Egerton
- Becky Eggimann
- Tiffany Egler
- Rachel Ehorn
- Candice Eisenhauer
- Keith D. Eiten
- Melissa Elliot
- Paul Ericksen
- Jared Falkanger
- Dillard Faries
- David B. Fletcher
- Nadine Folino-Rorem
- Katy Foltz
- Christin Fort
- Cynthia Foster
- Larry Funck
- Jeffrey Galbraith
- Robert L. Gallagher
- Stevener Gaskin
- Stephanie Gates
- Alison Gibson
- Richard Gibson
- Charlie Goeke
- Jamie Goodwin
- James Gordon
- Katherine Graber
- Susan Granzow
- Jeffrey K. Greenberg
- Whitley Grey
- Kathryn B. Grorud
- Sarah Guidera
- Colleen Hale
- Esther Han
- Lindsey Hankins
- Darlene Hannah
- Kerry J Haps
- Melissa Harkrider
- Ken Harrell
- Aaron Harrison
- Alex Haskins
- Lisa Heidlauf
- Hannah Hempstead
- Sarah Holman
- Mary Hopper
- Daniel Paul Horn
- Amy Howard
- Brian Howell
- David Hsu
- James G Huff Jr
- Karen Hurula
- Scott Ickes
- Paul Isihara
- Peter Jantsch
- Christine Jeske
- Corrie Johnson
- Karen Johnson
- Keith Johnson
- Mark Jonas
- Ethan Jones
- Ted Kahn
- George Kalantzis
- Alley Kammer
- Kathleen Kastner
- Tom Kay
- Billye Kee
- Chris Keil
- Kedisha Kelly
- Christine Goring Kepner
- Hanmee Kim
- HeeJung Kim
- Henry Kim
- John Kim
- Cynthia Neal Kimball
- Christine Kindberg
- Bellah Kiteki
- Amy Klobucher
- Tim Klingler
- Bruce Knowlton
- Bryant Kong
- Tiffany Eberle Kriner
- Jon C. Laansma
- Mark LaChonce
- Christina Bieber Lake
- Deborah D. Landeros
- Emily Langan
- Wendy Larson
- David Lauber
- Sarah Laughlin
- Maggie Laya
- Jillian Lederhouse
- Gregory Lee
- Karen Lee
- Jeannie Lee
- Michael Hakmin Lee
- Min-dong Paul Lee
- Laura Leonard
- Elizabeth Leong
- Raymond Lewis
- Charles Liu
- Tao Liu
- Joy Lobatos
- Abby Long
- Olivia Lorimer
- Ben Lovaasen
- Andrew Luhmann
- Cherith Lundin
- Matthew Lundin
- David Maas
- Kathryn Maneiro
- Cheryl Margason
- Marilyn R. Mast Hewitt
- Kim Matsumoto
- Scottie May
- Nicole Mazzarella
- Esau McCaulley
- John M. McConnell
- Bryan McGraw
- Emily Hunter McGowin
- Michael McKoy
- David McNutt
- Jennifer Powell McNutt
- Barrett McRay
- Michael Messer
- Brian Miller
- Phyllis Mitchell
- Laura Montgomery
- Douglas Moo
- A. Scott Moreau
- Lynne Morris
- Gregory Morrison
- Kim Morrison
- Stephen O. Moshier
- Natalie Mullen
- Rose Mumma-Dickson
- Ana Rivera-Muñoz
- Daniel Munoz
- Alana Nelson
- Julie Newberry
- Jennie Nicodem
- Miho Nonaka
- Ariel Norquist
- Ben Norquist
- Steve Oberg
- Shawn Okpebholo
- Diane Padilla
- Kristen Page
- Amy Park
- Steven Park
- Kaye Lee Patton
- Tony Payne
- Amy Peeler
- Lance Peeler
- William Phemister
- Arend J. Poelarends
- George Polcaster
- Brian Porick
- Mandie Porick
- Madeleine Preston
- Ben Pyykkonen
- Lilianna Quiroa-Crowell
- Nestor I. Quiroa
- John P. Rakes
- Corie Rectenwald
- Rick Richardson
- Jonathan D. Riddle
- Karen Riley
- Kelley Robbins
- Grace Rocha
- Jeremy Root
- John Rorvik
- Ian Roseen
- Allison Ruark
- Sandra Yu Rueger
- Megan Ruenz
- Jordan Ryan
- Yousaf Sadiq
- Krista Sanchez
- Scott Scheidt
- Rochelle Scheuermann
- Stephanie Schmidt
- Greg Halvorsen Schreck
- Jim Schroeder
- Tammy Schultz
- Alan Seaman
- Scott Selby
- Clint Shaffer
- Virginia Shaffer
- Joel Sheesley
- Sarah Stanley
- Michael Stauffer
- Peter Stepaniuk
- William M. Struthers
- Mark Talbot
- Hannah Ting
- Becky Toly
- Noah Toly
- Christa Tooley
- Dana Townsend
- Cathy Troupos
- Mallory Troyer
- Kari Vandervelde
- David J Van Dyke
- Silvio Vazquez
- Chris A. Vlachos
- Christy Vosburg
- Anne Vosmik
- Sara Vroom Fick
- Peter Walhout
- Genesis Watkins
- Terri Watson
- Daniel Watts
- Charles Weber
- William Wharton
- Howard Whitaker
- Jerry Woehr
- Adam Wood
- Mark A. Yarhouse
- Mary Yeboah
- Abigail Yoder
- Jeff Yoder
- Jolene Zahraee
Click here if you are a member of the Wheaton College faculty and staff (including emeritus faculty) and would like to add your signature.[1]
[1] Names not appearing above should not be understood as having been deliberately withheld. Colleagues may be away from electronic communication for any number of reasons.