Joe Rigney, a Twin Cities seminary president at Bethlehem College and Seminary, resigned Monday after what the school board called a “divergence of vision.”
“I do not believe that I have the full confidence of the Trustees, the elders of the governing churches, or the Chancellor,” Rigney said in his resignation letter, Bethlehem Seminary in Minneapolis wrote in a statement about the issue.
According to Religion News Service, the board said they found issues with Rigney’s views on Christian nationalism.
“The point is that Dr. Rigney’s more recent emphasis on a hoped-for eventual Christianization of all society, including the civil government, has put him at odds with other leaders of the school who would warn against the use of civil authority to establish Christianity as an official religion,” the board statement said.
Rigney has also drawn criticism for statements he made claiming that empathy is a sin and his involvement in a 2021 conflict over race relations at the seminary and church.
“Just as the Enemy joined the humans in their misery in that detestable act of incarnation, so also his followers are to join those who are hurting in their misery,” Rigney said in a blog post called “The Enticing Sin of Empathy.”
The board also took issue with Rigney’s belief in infant baptism, which is against the school’s statement of faith, which instead believes in “believer baptism,” where a person consciously makes a profession of faith.
Rigney has not commented on the announcement but released a statement along with the news.
“My family and I are currently praying and considering a number of options for our future, all of which would enable us to spread a passion for God’s supremacy in all things,” he said in the statement.
Rigney was named president of Bethlehem College and Seminary in September 2020. He was previously a professor at the college.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Brian A Jackson
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
