An article this week in Christianity Today (CT Online 3/1/21) reports that one of the largest Christian adoption agencies in America has changed an important policy regarding placing children for adoption and foster care. Bethany Christian Services (BCS) has indicated that it will now place children in homes with homosexual couples (and other LGBT type families) in 32 states where it has chapters. Following a lawsuit the agency lost in Michigan two years ago BCS was forced to allow gay adoptions in that state or face losing its license. Rather than being driven out of business the ministry complied. BCS President, Chris Pulasky, reasoned that if the agency did not comply it would deprive thousands of children of good homes.
Now the agency has decided to extend the open policy to other states to preempt further legal battles. This unfortunate dilemma is being faced by numerous faith-based adoption and foster care agencies. The US Supreme Court is currently contemplating hearing a case involving a Catholic foster care agency in Pennsylvania. It had its contract cancelled by the city of Philadelphia because of its policy of only placing children with man/woman married couples.
We regret that Bethany Christian Services has decided to allow the government and the courts to compromise their standards. They could have at least waited to hear the outcome of the Pennsylvania legal case. Sad to say, other Christian social service organizations are going to be similarly threatened by secular powers to ignore Biblical teachings and be bullied into either compromising or being terminated. As Christians we need to fight to maintain our religious rights to practice our faith according to biblical ethical doctrines and not be hounded by naturalistic secular forces to compromise them. We must defend our Biblical worldview!
As you may know, Freddy and Deborah Davis and I (Tal Davis) and my wife Barbara are adoptive parents. We know how important having a loving Christian home is for children’s spiritual and moral health. As such we agree with the statement by Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and author of Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches, who is quoted in the article.
“The need is great for distinctively Christian adoption and foster care services, including that children need both mothers and fathers. Moreover, this move will harm already existing efforts to enable faith-based orphan care ministries to serve the vulnerable without capitulating on core Christian convictions. The better way to serve is to hold the line when Caesar wants to be Messiah too. The state has no right to serve as lord over the conscience. Nonetheless, many evangelical orphan care ministries are working, and will continue to work, for vulnerable children in need of families, while still holding to the faith.”
So what can we do? For one, contact your congressman or woman and let them know of your concern. Also, encourage Christian social service groups to stand strong to maintain their policies. If they do not, you may want send your donations to those that will. Finally, pray that the leaders of this country come to their senses and see that the wide road we are now following leads to destruction. (Matthew 7:13)