More than most years, in 2021, courageous legal advocacy groups succeeded in protecting religious liberties.  These organizations champion the cause of  average individuals persecuted for their faith in public settings.  Consider Tanner Cross, a teacher in Loudoun County Virginia fired from his job for standing up for biblical beliefs about gender.  Because of legal organizations such as Alliance Defending Freedom, he defended his rights and kept his job.  We give praise to God for raising up organizations such as this and Salt and Light Global (SLG). I recently spoke to SLG about the twenty two U.S. Supreme Court cases they were involved in, successfully protecting religious freedom, the unborn, election integrity, and biblical family rights. The Great Lakes Justice Center (under the ministry of Salt and Light Global) thrives on bringing Jesus to the public square.

Below is a collection of their year-end 2021 report. You will be amazed by how God used this Center, one you may never have heard of, to demonstrate His power over biblical justice in multiple United States Supreme Court cases during 2021.

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The Great Lakes Justice Center continues to serve as the first line of protection for unborn children, freedom of religion, expression, and other constitutional liberties.  A leading organization fighting to preserve good governance under the rule of law, the Center engaged the culture through legal representation and other activities at local, state, and national forums.

Fighting for Pre-Born Children

Baby Karungi Case – The Justice Center represents the mother and unborn human embryo where the issue before the court is whether the unborn child is human, worthy of protection.

• Praise Report: A victory in the State Court of Appeals now forces the trial court to address the issue of whether the unborn human embryo is a human life worthy of protection.

Pro Life Speech Case – The Justice Center represents pro-life Christian students at Hope College.  The College seeks to punish the students for sharing, (in the public square off campus), their sincerely held personal Christian beliefs on the value of human life.

Fighting for Good Governance Under the Rule of Law; Protecting Religious Liberty

Pastors and Churches Case. When the Governor issued decrees making it a crime for individuals to travel to or attend church worship, we sued in Federal Court.

• Praise Report: The Governor acquiesced making it legal for individuals to travel to and attend church.

Government Mandates Substantially Interfering with the Free Exercise of Religious Conscience.   Our Justice Center assisted thousands of individuals facing government mandates that forced them to choose between following their sincerely held religious beliefs and keeping their jobs or attending school.  In many of these matters we assisted Christian people as they drafted their request for religious accommodation.

• Praise Report:100% of those government employees or students who we helped to seek a religious accommodation received one, enabling them to keep their jobs, scholarships, and student status without violating their religious beliefs.

Private Mandates Substantially Interfering with the Free Exercise of Religious Conscience. Our Justice Center assisted thousands of individuals facing government mandates that forced them to choose between following their sincerely held religious beliefs and keeping their jobs.  The total number is hard to calculate, but we saved thousands of jobs.

• Praise Report: We assisted/ represented hundreds of Christian nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals (all who served on the front lines during the worst of the COVID outbreak) when they were told by Henry Ford Hospitals they would be fired if they did not reject their sincerely held religious beliefs in connection with abortion etc. Henry Ford capitulated, and all have kept their positions without being forced to violate their sincerely held religious conscience.
• Praise Report: After we submitted similar demand letters to Consumer’s Energy and others, these companies likewise changed their positions and allowed Christians to keep their jobs without compromising their sincerely held religious beliefs.

NCAA Division I Christian Athletes Benched for their Religious Beliefs – Our Justice Center represents Christian athletes at various universities facing government mandates that forced them to choose between following their sincerely held religious beliefs and participating in inter-collegiate athletics.

• Praise Reports: We first won a Temporary Restraining Order ordering WMU to allow the Christian athletes to continue participating in intercollegiate athletics pending a hearing on a Preliminary Injunction.
• We then won a Preliminary Injunction ordering the university to allow the Christian athletes to continue participating in intercollegiate athletics during the pendency of the case.
• When the university appealed we won a decision in the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upholding the Christian students’ religious liberty. The ruling decisively held that the First Amendment limits the exercise of government power. The US Court of Appeal’s published its ruling which means it is mandatory precedent for all of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan. WMU capitulated and agreed to a Permanent Injunction where the Christian students may fully participate in intercollegiate sports without violating their religious conscience. A court judgment against the university was subsequently entered by the court.
• We believe this decision will help other universities to understand and follow the law… if not, we are preparing to go to court on behalf of other Christian students over the Christmas holiday.

Resurrection School Case.  Our Great Lakes Justice Center filed lawsuit on behalf of a Christian school, parents and children in connection with abuse of power by Michigan’s governor, health director, attorney general and others.  This case takes us into the classroom of a private, religious school and asks who is in the best position to make decisions pertaining to the religious education of the young children seated in its desks: the children’s parents who know and love them and the religious school selected by the family to shepherd and care for them, or a public official in an office in the State Capital who has never met the children or stepped foot in the school.  We are currently in the US Court of Appeals seeking en banc review

• Praise Report: The States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee have joined our case in support of our cause. Each state has filed amicus briefs in support of our legal arguments.

America’s Barber Case. Michigan barber cut hair in First Amendment protest against unconstitutional executive actions – resulting in criminal charges, summary business license revocation, etc.

• Praise Report: The Justice Center continues to assist on the Free Speech aspects of this case, fighting all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court where a preliminary victory there allowed the Barber to remain open. We thereafter reached a positive result, allowing the Barber to remain open.

Spangler’s Case – In this case we worked with Hillsdale College to support and represent local business facing government abuse of power; Our Justice Center represented business before various government agencies

• Praise Report: We stopped the government from illegally closing business, obtaining a positive result — which ultimately resulted in the government ending it prosecution of similarly situated businesses in the State.

Fighting for Election Integrity

Jesus T-shirt case – Our Justice Center represented a Christian woman in another election integrity case.  Here the government election employee was fired because she wore a t-shirt that says Jesus Saves.

• Praise Report: After we filed a federal lawsuit the court entered a judgment against the government for violating the Christian person’s First Amendment rights.  The government also agreed to pay attorney fees.

Fighting for Truth and Protecting Families

Planet Fitness Case. PF revoked the membership of a woman who complained about the presence of a man she encountered in the woman’s locker room. The Justice Center continues to assist in a lawsuit against this national corporation, battling all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court for the right to go to trial.

• Praise Report: After a victory in the Supreme Court we reached a positive settlement.

Fighting for Religious Freedom of Business Owners

 Word of God Fellowship v Dept. of Labor, OSHA (No. 21A250) This case asks whether the Federal government acted within the law when it issued executive mandates on private organizations.  Because companies have used the mandate as an excuse to fire Christian employees for their sincerely held religious beliefs, we plan to file a brief over the Christmas holiday asking the Court to make the government follow the law.

R.G. & GR Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. EEOC (No.18-107) The question before the Court was whether the Court of Appeals improperly usurped power reserved to the Congress and President when it judicially amended Title VII to add transgender classifications? In this case we presented arguments to the Supreme Court that the US Court of Appeals improperly usurped power reserved to the Congress and President.  Unfortunately, the Court here (over significant dissent and factual proof) said that the word “sex” in Title VII did not mean biological (male and female) but instead included transgender.

Let’s praise God for the incredible work of these legal organizations who are doing God’s work defending those who are being persecuted and pray for these cases and organizations in the new year.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year! Be sure to visit the new Pray for America’s Leaders website to pray for your state leaders and those from all over the Nation!

And join us live on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:15 pm ET —IFApray.org/watch or call (667) 771-7910 2452#.

 How are you praying for the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022? Please share in the comments section.