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Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission cares for over a thousand homeless people every day and shows them the love of Jesus that they so desperately need to see.
But right now, the state of Washington is threatening the Christian mission of this important ministry. Read the details of its case below.
Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission is a nonprofit ministry that began in 1932 as a soup kitchen to feed and care for those suffering from the Great Depression. Today, the Gospel Mission lives out its Christian faith by bringing the love of Jesus Christ to over a thousand homeless and hurting people in Seattle every day. Through services like its soup kitchen, mobile showers, and recovery programs, the Gospel Mission seeks to restore dignity and help people move to healthy and thriving lives.
And it’s successful. About 70 percent of clients are sober and working or in school two years after graduating from one of the Gospel Mission’s recovery programs. And about 25 percent of the Gospel Mission’s staff are former clients.
This amazing track record would not be possible if the Mission’s employees did not “walk the talk,” let alone actively worked against the Gospel Mission’s Christian faith.
That’s why churches and religious institutions, like the Gospel Mission, must be able to decide who they employ. If one employee explains to a client what it means to have a new life in Jesus Christ and then another employee contradicts or denies that message, the Mission loses credibility with those that it seeks to serve.
Unfortunately, Washington’s Supreme Court said that Washington law prohibits Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission from declining to hire a lawyer for its legal-aid clinic who refused to follow the Mission’s religious lifestyle requirements.
The lawyer was not active in a local church, disagreed with the Gospel Mission’s beliefs, and even explicitly stated that he applied for the position hoping to change the Mission’s religious beliefs.
If the Gospel Mission wants to continue sharing the Gospel message of new life in Christ with its homeless neighbors, it cannot hire people who disagree with its Christian beliefs—let alone those who seek to undermine them.
For this reason, the Gospel Mission couldn’t hire the lawyer who applied for a job at it’s legal-aid clinic and found someone who met its religious hiring criteria. But the lawyer challenged the Gospel Mission in court.
The lawyer filed a lawsuit against Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission in 2017.
In March of 2021, Washington’s Supreme Court ruled that the Gospel Mission must decide: shut down its religious ministry leaving thousands of homeless men and women in Seattle without its vital services, or violate its Christian faith. Neither of these is acceptable.
This is a clear violation of the First Amendment right to religious freedom. So, with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and our co-counsel, the Gospel Mission is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its case.
Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission is located in Seattle, Washington, where homelessness affects a startlingly large number of people.
The city had the third-largest homeless population in the United States according to federal data released in 2018.
And that population is growing faster than any other city. In 2020, there were over 11,000 homeless people in the surrounding county, with nearly half of those people living outside of shelters. The Gospel Mission’s ministry is certainly greatly needed!
There are thousands of people in Seattle who need the help and care that the Gospel Mission provides. You would think that Washington would be grateful for institutions that help citizens escape harrowing situations like homelessness and drug addiction.
But, instead, the Washington Supreme Court demanded that the Gospel Mission either violate its Christian beliefs or stop its religious ministry. If the government can dictate who the Gospel Mission can hire, it can demand that other institutions violate their beliefs as well—it can demand a synagogue employ a Christian or a Muslim ministry hire an employee who lives inconsistently with the Koran.
We all benefit when faith-based institutions are free to care for the poor and needy without government interference in internal matters of faith.
The government should stay out of churches and religious ministries’ internal faith matters.
Throughout 2024, many pastors and ministry leaders walked boldly into the wind when trials came their way. We’ve seen government officials pressuring...
