imageKCCI reported yesterday that Point of Grace Church in Waukee, IA took over the management of the day care that was operating in their building.  Happy Time Daycare apparently was under separate ownership and evidently was either given space in the church or was renting space from the church.  Point of Grace Church took over the management of the day care in order to create the Point of Grace Childrenā€™s Academy.

What KCCI deemed newsworthy was that Point of Grace sent a letter to the 22 teachers that worked at Happy Time saying if they wanted to continue their employment with the new academy they were going to have to reapply and agree to abide by a Christian Lifestyle Commitment Agreement.  Jeff Mullen, the lead pastor for the church, said during an interview with Steve Deace this afternoon that such a covenant was required for all staff.   The Christian Lifestyle Commitment located with the job application I have embedded below:

POGCA Christian Lifestyle Commitment

If you work for the academy you can no longer sleep around, do drugs, get wasted, live with your boyfriend or girlfriend, engage in homosexual activity, swear like a sailor, and sleep in on Sundays.  The horror!  KCCI interviewed one teacher who said, ā€œit makes me feel discriminated against because Iā€™m just doing my job.  I consider myself a Christian, I just donā€™t go to church regularly, I donā€™t meet some of the requirements.  I donā€™t think itā€™s fair that because of my lifestyle choices I canā€™t do the job that Iā€™m doing right now.ā€

First off we donā€™t get to set the standards of what it means to be a Christian.  Our lifestyle choices and either negatively impact or positively influence our Christian testimony.  What isnā€™t fair is that this teacher thinks she can live however she wants and still be able to work in Christian ministry.  There is nothing unreasonable about the expectations, and they are rooted in scripture.  Secondly, she is being ā€œdiscriminated againstā€  churches and religious organizations absolutely have the right by law to expect certain beliefs and behavior of their staff.  To think otherwise is to demonstrate complete ignorance for the law, not to mention a lack of understanding that our Constitution protects religious freedom.

Itā€™s legal now, but I imagine there will be a time when churches and religious organizations will no longer be able to determine these things.  With current civil rights legislation those rights are under attack which is why I believe Iowa (and other states) need religious liberty protections in the form of a religious freedom restoration act.

You May Also Like

Iowa Capitol Quotable: Tamara Scott

No this isnā€™t going to be a regular feature, but during my…

Ben Carson Nominated to Head Housing and Urban Development

President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Dr. Ben Carson to serve as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

With Christ in the Voting Booth: The Foreword by Mike Huckabee

Today starts a series of posts excerpted from my book, With Christ…

Pediatricians: SCOTUS Ruling on Marriage Marks Tragic Day for Children

The American College of Pediatricians said the Supreme Court’s ruling favoring same-sex marriage did not best reflect the needs of children.