Tag Archives: Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Fellowship of Christian Athletes could be on the chopping block

1Peter 4:12-14 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Important Takeaways:

  • Appeals Court Tosses Ruling That Upheld Rights of Fellowship of Christian Athletes
  • The full 9th U.S. Court of Appeals will reconsider a three-panel judge’s decision requiring a San Jose, California school district to recognize the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). The district is objecting to the FCA’s policy that does not allow LGBTQ students to serve as leaders of the Christian club.
  • The federal court’s order vacated the panel’s 2-1 decision last August finding the school district infringed on FCA’s rights when it took away its status as an official high school club.
  • The FCA is a student religious organization whose policies for its members include a “sexual purity statement,” declaring that “the biblical description of marriage is one man and one woman in a lifelong commitment.” The San Jose Unified School District withdrew its recognition of the group in 2019 and says it grants such status only to organizations whose membership is open to all students. The FCA group was still allowed to meet on campus but could no longer deposit funds in a school bank account or be listed in school yearbooks, a status granted only to officially recognized student organizations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • Based in Kansas City, MO, the FCA is a Christian religious ministry with more than 7,000 student chapters at schools and colleges nationwide, including three chapters within three San Jose high schools that had been active for more than a decade.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Fast-food chain Chick-fil-A changes donations after facing LGBT+ protests

Fast-food chain Chick-fil-A changes donations after facing LGBT+ protests
By Hugo Greenhalgh

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – U.S. fast-food chain Chick-fil-A said on Monday it had stopped funding two Christian organisations, including The Salvation Army, that have come under fire from LGBT+ campaigners.

The fast-food chain’s charitable arm, Chick-fil-A Foundation, donated millions of dollars over a period of years to The Salvation Army and to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), which opposes same-sex marriage.

Chick-fil-A said on Monday it no longer funded these organisations and would instead focus its giving on “education, homelessness and hunger”.

“We made multi-year commitments to both organisations and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018,” a spokeswoman for Chick-fil-A told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The family-owned company said in statement that it would no longer make multi-year commitments and would focus on partnerships annually to “allow maximum impact”, which could include faith-based and non-faith-based charities.

The spokeswoman declined to comment specifically on whether the protests had influenced the move but added the decision was “made to create more clarity”.

In 2018, the Chick-fil-A Foundation gave $1.65 million to the FCA and $115,000 to the Atlanta branch of The Salvation Army, according to its 2018 declaration of charitable donations to the U.S Internal Revenue Service.

The FCA did not respond to immediate requests for comment.

The Salvation Army said it was “saddened” that a corporate partner had “felt it necessary” to divert funding to other hunger, education and homelessness organisations — areas in which The Salvation Army is committed.

SERVING THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY

“We serve more than 23 million individuals a year, including those in the LGBTQ+ community,” the charity said in a statement.

“When misinformation is perpetuated without fact, our ability to serve those in need, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or any other factor, is at risk.”

The announcement came after Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A faced increasing fire from LGBT+ campaigners who accused the company of funding some groups that opposed same-sex marriage.

The chain, which runs more than 2,500 restaurants in the United States, Canada and Britain, is set to close its first UK outlet in the southern England city of Reading.

Chick-fil-A has denied the closure was due to protests but said it only had a six-month lease as part of a strategy to look at international expansion.

It opened a branch in Scotland last month where an online petition calling for its closure has gathered about 1,250 signatures.

Campaigners cautiously welcomed the change in funding.

“If they want to be trusted by our community, they have to show that our rights are not up for debate,” said LGBT+ rights campaigner Scott Cuthbertson at the Scotland-based Equality Network.

“There is always space for people to change their minds and respect LGBT+ equality … We don’t do anyone any justice by bearing anyone any grudges.”

But former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a candidate in the U.S. Republican presidential primaries in 2008 and 2016, accused Chick-fil-A of surrendering to “anti-Christian hate groups”.

“In Aug 2012, I coordinated a national @ChickfilA Appreciation Day after they were being bullied by militant hate groups. Millions showed up. Today, @ChickfilA betrayed loyal customers for $$,” he wrote on Twitter.

(Reporting by Hugo Greenhalgh @hugo_greenhalgh; Editing Belinda Goldsmith)

Students Nationwide Challenged To Read and Live Scripture

A major youth outreach is taking place today called “Fields of Faith” where students will meet at athletic fields to read and be challenged to “live out” the Scriptures.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is organizing the event.

“The reality is we are losing the spiritual war in America,” Fields of Faith’s website states. “There is a movement in our country to remove God from the public square. It is rapidly taking ground and grows more emboldened every day.”

“Christian teens are being assaulted by a highly organized pagan culture. Christian teens are not reading the Scriptures; they have no way of fighting back.  They are depending on their churches to make them feel good about their faith. Meanwhile, our culture is descending into the same abyss that Josiah had to face.”

The FCA attributes much of the problem to students not reading their Bibles or understanding the guidelines God gives us to live a pure and holy life.

Over 450 locations are taking place in the event.  Over 170,000 students participated in the event last year.

School Reverses Discrimination Against Christian Athletes

A Florida school district that was openly discriminating against Christian athletes has reversed course and will now allow the Fellowship of Christian Athletes access to the schools.

Students at Mount Dora High School attempted to form a chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes when the officials at the school denied them the same rights given to other student groups.  Those rights included access to school facilities and the right to hang promotional posters for events in the school hallways.

The students reached out to the Christian legal organization Liberty Counsel who filed a complaint with the school, saying that denying the students access because they approach things from a religious perspective is a clear violation of their First Amendment rights.

“Equal access means exactly what it says: equal access to every school facility used by other clubs,” Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel said.  “This includes the use of classroom facilities, intercom systems, bulletin boards, yearbook, financial sponsorship and any other benefit afforded to secular clubs.”

Lake County School Board voted to support an agreement to end the lawsuit that gives the FCA the same access as other non-curricular student groups.