“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,” (Psalm 33:18)

The mayor of Seattle is calling the homelessness in her city a crisis. But one of her community’s most effective ministries in addressing that scourge is being ordered to drop its Christian convictions if it wants to keep helping.

View Comments (23)

Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission was founded during another homeless crisis nearly 90 years ago. “Hoovervilles” — homeless encampments — popped up across the country during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. This mission was created in 1932 to bring relief to those suffering in the Emerald City.

While times have changed, the ministry’s commitment to the needy in its city has not. And over time it has expanded its offerings to not only offer food and housing aid, but also recovery, job placement, and legal services. The mission has also remained true to its name, keeping the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the heart of all it does.

On its website, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission states,

Almost everywhere you look in Seattle, you see people who have lost so much. Their homes. Their families. Their hope for a better tomorrow. What you don’t see is what so many have found. A path out of homelessness. A path that begins with God’s amazing grace and leads to a new beginning. Over the past year, we’ve helped thousands of men, women and children walk that path to a new life.

Sadly, that commitment to God’s amazing grace has landed this homeless ministry in hot water with the Washington Supreme Court.

While seeking a staff lawyer to serve in its legal aid clinic — a post in which an employee would practice sharing one’s faith, prayer, and other Christian activities — the mission turned down an applicant who identified as bisexual and reportedly applied in protest of the mission’s Christian commitment. According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is defending Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, the applicant did not profess a relationship with Christ, indicated no connection to a local church, and neglected to supply a pastoral reference. Worse, he apparently openly called on the mission to change itself in his cover letter and then sued after the ministry chose a different candidate.

The applicant’s lawsuit was initially tossed by a state trial court that recognized the faith-based nature of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission — “Gospel” is even in its name! But the Washington Supreme Court revisited the case and overrode the decision.

A number of Washington legislators, alarmed by the ruling, recently called out the state high court’s “shocking anti-religious animus” and “dubious” reasoning to overturn a religious protection it apparently determined is a “license to discriminate.” The concerned lawmakers added that now in Washington “even houses of worship are left without legal protection from intrusive and potentially ruinous employment-related enforcement actions and lawsuits.”

For its part, ADF is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court and, in its petition, draws attention to the urgency of this case:

This leveling of religious nonprofits’ autonomy and diluting of their doctrines was shocking. The Washington Supreme Court disagreed with the Mission’s religious beliefs on matters of sexual behavior and thus jumped statutory and constitutional hurdles to ensure that ideological opponents could coopt non-ministerial positions and undermine the Mission’s religious teachings. Unless this Court intervenes, anyone will be able to demand a job while contradicting a religious organization’s core beliefs, and faith-based nonprofits will lose their autonomy to freely associate without state interference.

Recounting the importance of its daily compassionate work based in the power of Christ, the mission’s president Scott Chin this week told the Daily Signal, “And to be honest, that’s why it’s worth fighting for. When you think about the life transformation that happens every day at the mission, literally many miracles are happening…. We’re really good at what we do. We just need the freedom to do it.”

Will you pray for Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission? We know the U.S. Supreme Court has shown interest in religious liberty cases, but also that their decision to take this one is no slam dunk… as rejected cases like that of Barronelle Stutzman (also in Washington) remind us. Let’s pray this mission can continue its work showing the love of Christ practically to its city in the midst of this homeless crisis.

Does this seem to you to be an assault against religious liberty? Share a prayer in the comments below!

Aaron Mercer is a Contributing Writer with two decades of experience in Washington, D.C.’s public policy arena.

(Photo Credit: Luca Micheli/Unsplash).