Some evangelical leaders are denouncing the nation’s largest Protestant adoption agency for recently opening adoptions to LGBT couples.
Bethany Christian Services will be altering its previous policy to begin providing services to LGBT parents, according to an email announcement sent to their approximately 1,500 staff members.
Nathan Bult, senior vice president of the organization, explained their change of heart in a statement to The Christian Post:
We acknowledge that discussions about doctrine are important, but our sole job is to determine if a family can provide a safe, stable environment for children. Unlike many other child and family welfare organizations, Bethany is committed to partnering with churches to find as many families for vulnerable children as possible, and we seek to place children with families that share our mission.
For us to carry out our mission, we are building a broad coalition of Christians – finding families and resources for children in the greatest need. The people we serve deserve to know they are worthy of being safe, loved, and connected. The need is great, so we are taking an ‘all hands on deck’ approach.
We believe that Christians with diverse beliefs can unify around our mission of demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus. It’s an ambitious mission, and we can only accomplish it together.
Al Mohler, who is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, accused the historically evangelical adoption agency of caving to the “moral revolutionaries” transforming the culture.
From today’s episode of #TheBriefing on the announcement from Bethany Christian Services that they will not hold to the biblical definition of marriage. At @SBTS and @BoyceCollege, we will not pivot from the clear teaching of Scripture. Listen here: https://t.co/jQKYx6myXG pic.twitter.com/K0Fc5ejHCo
— Albert Mohler (@albertmohler) March 2, 2021
“The moral revolutionaries are now demanding that every single individual in this society, every single institution, every single school, every single religious denomination, every single adoption, and foster care agency, must pivot,” Mohler said in part during a Tuesday episode of his broadcast. “In this case, that means capitulation, it means absolute surrender to the demands of the LGBTQ community, and now we’re just talking about generalized the political left in the United States.”
“We are now seeing a head-on collision between organizations like Bethany Christian services that had been very committed to a Christian understanding of marriage and the family and human sexuality and gender … and the government,” Mohler added. He claimed Bethany was abandoning its convictions to maintain an amicable relationship with the government.
“Christians have to understand: If you’re redefining marriage, if you’re redefining parent and family, you are redefining civilization,” he said.
Focus on the Family president Jim Daly tweeted, “Bethany Christian Services should not have to choose between holding to their deeply held religious convictions and serving children and families. No government should tell any ministry how to run their ministry, let alone violate deeply held biblical principles.”
Bethany Christian Services should not have to choose between holding to their deeply held religious convictions and serving children and families. No government should tell any ministry how to run their ministry, let alone violate deeply held biblical principles.
— Jim Daly (@DalyFocus) March 2, 2021
Daniel Akin, who is president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, condemned Bethany’s decision as a “very disappointing capitulation to cultural pressure.”
“Children need a dad and a mom in a healthy, biblical home,” he added. “God’s Word is clear.”
Bethany Christian Services Will Now Help LGBTQ Parents Adopt Children – The New York Times /Very disappointing capitulation to cultural pressure. Children need a dad and a mom in a healthy, biblical home. God’s Word is clear. https://t.co/ooKca5B58W
— Daniel Akin (@DannyAkin) March 1, 2021
Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, “I am disappointed in this decision, as are many. This move will harm already existing efforts to enable faith-based orphan care ministries to serve the vulnerable without capitulating on core Christian convictions.”
Bethany began placing children with same-sex couples as part of a settlement in 2019.
Related: Largest Protestant Adoption Agency In U.S. Opens To LGBTQ Couples