Religious Exemptions Ruling Very Among Courts, Christmas Is A Family Celebration & Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism

Christian companies have seen conflicting legal decisions about religious exemptions from Title VII LGBTQ rules after the U.S. Supreme Court said in 2020 that the statute prohibits bias based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Most recently, a Washington state district court said Nov. 28 that World Vision erred in rescinding an employment offer to an applicant after learning she was a lesbian in a same-sex marriage.

Months earlier on June 20, a Fifth Circuit appeals court granted exemptions to Texas plaintiffs Braidwood Management, a Christian-owned wellness center, and Bear Creek Bible Church, allowing them to reject applicants and employees who don’t wear clothes conforming to their biological gender, or those who exhibit gender-nonconforming behavior such as using bathrooms assigned to the opposite biological gender. The case was Braidwood Management v. the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The court rulings are among several that have impacted religious employers after the U.S. Supreme Court left certain aspects of religious liberty in limbo in Bostock v. Clayton County, ruling that protections from “sex” discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 include “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.”
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For many people, Christmas means family – even family that may not be kin.

Valleypoint Church in Spokane, Washington is planning to celebrate that vision this Christmas. The church is planning events that are multi-cultural, multi-generational and spiritually significant this Christmas season.

Valleypoint pastor Jim Shiner says the church is focusing on Marshallese people who originate from the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific.

Valleypoint has four separate yet related entities. Valleypoint Church, Valleypoint Marshallese Church, West Plain Marshallese Church and Valleypoint Learning Center, a five-day-a-week preschool and daycare.
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Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.
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Sometimes it requires decades to see the Lord’s faithfulness. In 1963 that Southern Seminary launched the Billy Graham chair for evangelism…a specific professorship to help students focus on evangelism.

This week in 1965 the seminary set out to raise a substansial endowment for the position.

In 1993 after three decades of God’s faithfulness…they opened the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism.

Just as they were…may we be faithful to focus on and share the hope we have in Jesus.

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