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The Seattle Times ran a feature article yesterday morning "exposing" the new "bigoted" leader of King's High School parent organization CRISTA Ministries.
The article says when students returned to the classroom at King's High School last week, something was missing.
More about what was missing---and what was not missing.
Be informed.
CRISTA Ministries runs private Christian schools, retirement communities and Christian radio stations in addition to international relief work.
The Seattle Times said,
"Several beloved teachers were no longer there. At least five either felt pushed out or voluntarily quit the private, interdenominational Christian school over the summer break in protest of an administrative mandate that they perceived as requiring them to disavow same-sex relationships, both on the job and in their personal lives---and they objected to anti-gay language from Jacinta Tegman , the new leader of King's parent organization, CRISTA Ministries."
The problem according to protesting teachers.
The Times quotes Megan Troutman, for example, an English teacher who opposed King's position. She told the Times she objects to those conditions because the ministries' stance may hurt students questioning their sexual identity.
She said: "I cannot, in good faith or conscience, teach in a place that creates policies that negatively impact an entire section of the student population. I could not be complicit in a policy that could harm or ostracize any student."
Troutman now has a job teaching English at a high school in Bellevue.
She will certainly not be faced with these "policies" in Bellevue.
Are these policies "new" to CRISTA?
The school's public-facing materials have not fundamentally changed. While the established policies do not mention the newly minted LGBTQ+ agenda, they speak to "the historical biblical standards of morality" and state clearly that the ministries believe "the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are "inerrant in their 'original' writings" and "of supreme and final authority."
You will note that the ministry's statement of faith and belief is that of hundreds of millions of evangelicals across this nation and around the world.
The real problem is not with the ministry "creating new policies," it's with the fact that they are standing for their founding policies, which are biblically based.
Sadly it has nearly become the norm for Christian institutions, including too many churches, to claim to believe one thing while practicing something else.
Unlike their neighboring Christian school, Seattle Pacific University, CRISTA has determined to stand firm on biblical teaching rather than "evolve" as SPU and other "Christian" schools have chosen to do regarding homosexuality and marriage.
The press often attacks the messenger when they hate the message.
Tegman is not creating new policies, she's honoring CRISTA's founding policies.
Rather than attack Scripture directly, the Times seems to have chosen to undermine Jacinta Tegman with what they believe to be negative information.
As of Friday, only two students had been unenrolled at King's because of this issue. Hardly a mass exodus.
However, the press---others will follow the Seattle Times article today--seeks to present a different public perception.
The Times says,
"Tegman, who previously fought to repeal a state gay-rights law and led opposition to same-sex marriage in Washington, took the helm of CRISTA as its president and CEO in January. She centered her first State of CRISTA address on the need for practical and spiritual reform at the organization."
Spokane's Spokesman-Review ran an article about Jacinta Tegman back in 2006, "exposing" her as a traditional, biblical marriage advocate.
She is. She is also a very bright and talented, devout Christian. I've worked with Jacinta during the efforts to protect marriage and repeal anti-marriage legislation in Washington State. She's for real.
The Times noted that "Echoing biblical language, she specifically cited CRISTA's belief that "sexual intimacy is confined within the marriage of one man and woman."
A month later, the Times reports,
"King's schools Eric Rasmussen sent an email to families in July to reaffirm the school's core values, and repeated Tegman's line that sexual expression only occurs within a heterosexual marriage."
That actually isn't "Tegman's line." Jesus taught that in Matthew 19:4-6. She's merely quoting the Truth.
Following Rasmussen's email, some staff questioned if they could continue to teach at King's if they did not fully align with the stances discussed in Tegman's address.
The answer was no.
Tegman says, "This may not be the place for everybody. So if it's not, we just want to make that clear so people can make a good decision whether they want to stay."
Unfortunately, it is unique and refreshing to see historical traditional Christian institutions reaffirming their founding beliefs and taking a stand for righteousness.
So many who have seen and experienced the blessing of God, have, in this current culture, chosen to evolve--relate and conform to current cultural trends.
God bless CRISTA. Pray for Jacinta Tegman. And pray for the board of directors of the ministry that they too will continue to stand for the biblical Truth they were founded upon.
I am certain their biblical position will be protested and opposed.
Take away.
I had to think of Joshua. When leaders lead, people follow.
Joshua 24:14-16
14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
Be Informed. Be Faithful. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.