World Vision Reverses Decision To Hire Christians in Same-Sex Marriages

Letter: 'We failed to be consistent with World Vision U.S.’s commitment to the traditional understanding of Biblical marriage and our own Statement of Faith'.

Jeremy Weber and Celeste Gracey

 March 26, 2014

 

Excerpt:

...The initial decision came with heavy backlash from the evangelical community with only some support for the decision. The day after the announcement was made, the Assemblies of God denomination urged its members to consider dropping their support.

 

"The U.S. branch of World Vision has placed Pentecostal and evangelical churches in a difficult position," AG general superintendent George O. Wood had said in an email. "On the one hand, we applaud the work they do among the poor in America and around the world, and many churches have supported that work financially for some time. On the other hand, World Vision's policy change now puts them at odds with our beliefs regarding sexual morality."

 

World Vision, a multi-denominational relief organization, hoped to take what it described as a neutral position in the gay marriage debate by deferring it to the local church. The policy still required singles to remain abstinent and married couples to maintain fidelity, but didn't limit marriages to heterosexuals.

More than 2,000 of the 1.2 million children sponsored by World Vision U.S. were dropped since the announcement, according to a tweet by Micah J. Murray. But it's not clear whether those numbers are a net loss or had been offset by new donors, explained former World Vision staffer Ben Irwin... the rest at Christianity Today