World Vision Reverses Decision To Hire Christians
in Same-Sex Marriages
(UPDATED) President Richard Stearns:
'Certain beliefs are so core to our Trinitarian faith
that we must take a strong stand on those beliefs.'
EXCERPTS:
"Only two days after announcing it would hire Christians in same-sex marriages, World Vision U.S. has reversed its ground-breaking decision after weathering intense criticism from evangelical leaders."
""What we are affirming today is there are certain beliefs that are so core to our Trinitarian faith that we must take a strong stand on those beliefs," said Stearns. "We cannot defer to a small minority of churches and denominations that have taken a different position.""
"John Huffman, who was a World Vision board member for 26 years,---called the previous decision to change the employment policy "unwise" on every front. "It lacks of wisdom in terms of biblical, theological, moral, cultural, and strategic implications to the organization," he said."
Comment: In two days, World Vision USA has determined that a majority of Christian churches are no longer pro gay marriage and now are pro Biblical marriage. It seems that it is now better business to reverse course.
Here is the full text of World Vision's announcement today:
HOW WORLD VISION CAN REGAIN TRUST
EXCERPTS:
This could not have been an easy thing to do, as they will now have to deal with accusations of being double-minded, not to mention the pro-gay activist backlash they will surely face along with accusations that they were not sincere in their repentance but rather acted out of mercenary concerns, and so we need to be just as vocal in affirming them as we were in rebuking them.
They acknowledged that they “failed to be consistent with World Vision U.S.’s commitment to the traditional understanding of Biblical marriage and our own Statement of Faith.”
So, what do you actually believe? Many of us are genuinely confused. Are you now saying, “Although some churches may differ on this, we are reaffirming our strong belief that in God’s sight, marriage is the union of one man and one woman, while homosexual practice is always against the law of God, even in the context of monogamous, homosexual unions”? On Monday did you feel that the biblical definition of marriage was debatable but on Wednesday you decided that this was not the case? If so, what produced such a drastic change? Your clarification here would help to instill greater confidence.
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Christian Charity
Backtracks on Gays:
EXCERPT:
"Mr. Stearns explained that World Vision’s staff members belong to more than 50 denominations, and since some Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Congregational churches are now marrying same-sex couples, the charity’s board had decided to be “neutral.” He said this was no different from World Vision’s practice of deferring to churches on other doctrinal matters, such as divorce and remarriage, women in leadership and evolution."
"On Wednesday, the board of World Vision, which includes two Google executives, reversed itself. Six board members did not respond to interview requests."
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AN APOLOGY IS NOT ENOUGH
WORLD VISION NEEDS TO CLEAN HOUSE;
EXCERPTS:
"I anticipate that World Vision’s mettle will soon be tested. I predict that the Obama administration will now pull some or all of the $330 million it sends to World Vision, in order to punish them for being hatemongering homophobes."
"Also, the state of Washington will likely sue them for violating its anti-Christian employment discrimination laws. If the attorney general will sue a florist in the Evergreen State for not embracing same-sex “marriage,” you can bet it won’t be long before he sets his sights on one of the largest Christian organizations in the world."
"In other words, this is not the end of testing for World Vision but the beginning. They had better make sure they have leaders who are up to the task. Right now, they don’t."
