Largest Protestant adoption agency in U.S. to start serving LGBTQ families
Bethany Christian Services, the country’s largest Protestant adoption and foster care agency, will now offer services to same-sex couples, in a major win for LGBTQ families across the nation.
The significant change in policy was announced in an email to about 1,500 employees on Monday, according to the Religion News Service agency.
The board of directors of the organization — which is based in Grand Rapids, Mich. and has offices in 32 states — approved the change early this year, after years of debate.
“This decision implements consistent, inclusive practices for LGBTQ families across our organizations,” Nate Bult, Bethany’s senior vice president of public and government affairs, said according to RNS.
“We’ve had a patchwork approach for the last few years,” he added.
According to the email, which was obtained by The New York Times, Bethany’s president and CEO Chris Palusky said that the organization will now “offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today.”
“We’re taking an ‘all hands on deck’ approach where all are welcome,” he added.
The change comes amid increasing pressure from LGBTQ rights groups, as well as city, state and federal laws over the past few years challenging tax-payer funded child placement agencies that refuse to work with same-sex couples.
In 2018, the city of Philadelphia suspended contracts with Bethany after news that a lesbian couple was referred to another agency, because “this organization has never placed a child with a same-sex couple,” as one of the women told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The agency later reversed its position.
Philadelphia also suspended a contract with another faith-based agency, Catholic Social Services, which filed a lawsuit arguing that the city was violating a protection for the free exercise of religion.
The case made its way to the Supreme Court, and oral arguments were heard in November.
A ruling is expected by the end of June.
Bethany’s decision comes after the organization enlisted a Christian polling firm to gauge sentiment of self-identified Christians about LGBTQ adoption.
A survey of 667 Christians conducted by the Barna Group found that more than half (55%) said either that sexual orientation should not be a determining factor for who can foster or adopt, or that it was better for children to be in an LGBTQ home than in foster care.
According to the Times, as of late 2020, Bethany branches in 12 states have already opened up to LGBTQ couples.
