GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Grand Rapids-based Bethany Christian Services welcomes refugees from around the world to West Michigan, but its staff will no longer reflect the diverse faiths of those it serves.
Target 8 has confirmed that the faith-based social service agency, which receives government funding to provide foster care and refugee services, began enforcing a strict Christian-only hiring mandate several months after the arrival of a new. general manager.
Keith Cureton took over as head of the 80-year-old charitable institution in July.
According to his websitein 2022, BCS employed nearly 2,000 people worldwide and served 80,400 customers.
Previous BCS leaders would have allowed exceptions to the Christian hiring policy, but Cureton informed staff in late 2023 that there would be no such deviations in the future.
“People were shocked,” said a BCS employee who wished to remain anonymous. “They couldn’t believe how forcefully and quickly this policy was passed. There was no conversation. There was no “Let’s get together and talk about how this policy could be implemented.” It was, “This is what’s happening, and you’re going to comply with it.” »
Several BCS staff members contacted Target 8 to express their outrage over the new administration’s strict policies.
In recent months, BCS leaders have also banned workplace protests in support of LGBTQ+ people and other politically controversial movements.
“They were like, ‘You can’t have flags,’ like a pride flag, a BLM flag,” the employee recalled. “But you can’t have a MAGA or 1776 flag either.”
Target 8 does not identify the staff member because BCS has asked employees not to speak to the media.
“People are frustrated,” the employee said. “People are hurt.”
According to the worker, tensions arose in August when the agency’s refugee branch moved from its 36th Street location to Bethany’s main campus on Eastern Avenue SE.
AN INTERNAL “CULTURE SHOCK”
“We were faced with a culture shock,” explains the BCS employee. “The refugee side embraces diversity a lot, embraces a lot, people come from all walks of life, and there’s a widespread passion for LGBTQ+ inclusion… It was kind of in the face of (the higher-ups) all of one shot, and I think a lot of people didn’t like that.
In a Dec. 5 memo, a BCS administrator told staff there had been “numerous instances” of Grand Rapids-based workers not following the new “advocacy versus activism” policy.
“Please ensure that if you have anything that violates this policy at work (i.e. flags, lanyards, buttons, decorations, etc.) you take it home as soon as possible. As Bethany employees, we are required to follow agency policies, whether or not we agree with them, and any failure or refusal to do so will result in disciplinary action.
The staffer who spoke anonymously to Target 8 said BCS fired several managers who did not enforce the pride flag ban.
According to the employee, the fired leaders also scheduled an optional, inclusive interfaith celebration the same morning and time as the official BCS gathering.
Agency leaders reportedly canceled the alternative event and cited the executives for “insubordination.”
“I think at first people were in denial, like, ‘They can’t get away with this,’” the BCS employee said of the new mandates. “They can’t do that. »
According to the staffer, the policies contradict language used by the agency. federal and state contracts as well as Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers.
MI AG “MATERIAL” MAGAZINE
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office told Target 8 it is “aware of the matter and is looking into it.”
Target 8 asked the U.S. and Michigan Departments of Health and Human Services whether BCS’s actions violated its government contracts, but neither entity responded to that request.
MDHHS wrote, however, that it is “aware of and reviewing the situation involving Bethany Christian Services.”
Under federal law, faith-based organizations are exempt from anti-discrimination laws that prohibit employment decisions based on an applicant’s religion.
But debate continues over how this exemption should be interpreted.
The Department of Labor under the Trump administration expanded religious exceptions to anti-discrimination laws, but President Biden’s Labor Department repealed Trump-era regulations.
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the so-called ministerial exception covers not only employees whose title includes the word “minister” but also all personnel performing ministerial functions.
“We’re seeing more and more faith-based organizations or employers saying that anyone they employ is considered a ministerial employee,” Jay Kaplan of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan said in an interview via Zoom.
But that’s not the case, Kaplan says.
ACLU “CONCERNED”
“The purpose of a Bethany Christian Services foster carer, particularly one under contract with the state, is not to provide religious foster care services, but foster care services on behalf of the state,” Kaplan said. “They are not engaged in ministerial duties, nor should they be as part of their contract with the State of Michigan…So I am concerned about this requirement that you adhere to particular religious tenets in order to to be qualified and eligible to be an employee there.
But Steve McFarland of the Christian Legal Society told Target 8 that Bethany fully respects her rights under federal law.
“It is a well-established fact that a religious organization can advance its religious mission by hiring people who share the same faith,” McFarland said over Zoom. “What is their primary mission? How do they keep up? That’s not even a small thing when it comes to Bethany.
The organization’s mission statement clearly lays out the core of its purpose.
“Bethany is committed as an organization to demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus Christ by protecting children, empowering youth, and strengthening families through quality social services,” reads the statement. BCS statement of intent.
NO UNIVERSAL RIGHT TO RELIGIOUS EMPLOYMENT
“I would like to emphasize that not everyone is entitled to employment in a religious organization. I have no right to be hired by a Muslim mosque,” McFarland said. “I am not allowed to display a Palestinian flag if I am an employee of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue.”
McFarland emphasized that there is no free speech in a private workplace.
The BCS employee who spoke anonymously to Target 8 said it wasn’t the legality of Bethany’s actions that concerned him.
“The question is not, ‘Can they do it?’ “, explained the staff member. ” I have no doubt about it. The question is: “Should you do this?” Should you exclude people?’
Workers’ biggest concern, according to the employee, is the impact of policies on children served by BCS.
When Afghanistan fell in 2021, Bethany Christian Services helped pick up the pieces. The agency is one of ten officially recognized “America’s Resettlement Partners” nationally.
“Bethany took a ton of kids from Afghanistan through the refugee program,” the employee recalled. “If we didn’t have Muslim staff at Bethany, I can’t imagine what it would have been like with these kids. We would have been even more overwhelmed than before,” the staffer explained, referring to the workers’ ability to understand what Afghan children experienced, their culture and worldview.
“How is it fair to these kids to say, ‘You go to a place where everyone believes something different than you, and you don’t see yourself in anyone there,'” the worker asked.
The employee is also concerned about staff’s failure to display symbols to ensure LGBTQ+ customers know they are supported.
“These kids come from countries where it’s not at all safe for them if they’re LGBTQ+,” the staff member explained. “They are ridiculed. They are sometimes persecuted and I can’t have anything in my office that shows I’m a safe space for them?
Bethany Christian Services told staff it would not lay off non-Christians already working there and that if it needed additional support from other faiths in crises like the one in Afghanistan, it would hire people on a temporary contract basis, as needed.
“To me, that just means you can’t get benefits, just pay, and that doesn’t equate to treating that employee the same as everyone else,” the worker remarked.
BCS: “OUR EMPLOYEES REMAIN RESPONSIBLE”
Target 8 sent a detailed list of questions to Bethany Christian Services and requested an on-camera interview with CEO Keith Cureton.
The organization responded with a brief statement that appeared to address the recent layoffs.
“Our employees remain responsible for satisfactorily completing their assigned duties so that Bethany can carry out its mission to see a world where all children, youth and families are safe, loved and connected,” can -we read.
