A Christian youth ministry has suffered financial hardship and “irreparable harm” after an Oregon government agency made critical funding contingent on hiring people who did not adhere to the nonprofit’s deeply held religious beliefs, according to court filings.
71Five Ministries, an Oregon-based Christian missionary organization, is now suffering a huge annual budget deficit because the state’s Department of Education stripped the organization of funding because of its religious nature, according to a lawsuit filed in March by Alliance Defending Freedom. The case wrapped up oral arguments last week and is awaiting a judge’s decision.
“It felt like a punch in the gut,” Bud Amundsen, executive director of a Christian youth mentoring nonprofit, told Fox News Digital.
“In fact, we were one of their favorite programs,” he added.
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An Oregon Christian organization that serves at-risk youth has had its funding cut by the Department of Education because of its religious nature, according to a lawsuit. (Fox News Digital)
71Five Ministries serves at-risk youth of all faiths and backgrounds, including incarcerated, pregnant and parenting youth. The organization had received funding for six years but was suddenly denied funding due to a “statement of faith” required of its staff.
The ministry required all its officers, employees, and volunteers to be “true followers of Christ.” ADF argued that as a religious organization, it had the legal right to give preference to members of its faith as employees and volunteers. It based its argument on Supreme Court rulings, among other things, that the government cannot interfere with a religious organization’s “selection of persons who embody its faith.”
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“When we got the funding, we were excited to continue the partnership, and then to have it withdrawn and for that to be the reason why… [I was] “How on earth could that have happened?” Amundsen said.
Amundsen added that it remains to be seen how the budget deficit will be closed heading into next year.
“My hope and goal is that we don’t make cuts that would reduce access for young people,” he said. “I’ve had a range of emotions related to that, and perhaps the best I can say is that I feel like our efforts have been pretty much thrown in the trash and that we’re not valued at all, simply because they don’t agree with our views on faith.”
Bud Amundsen, Executive Director, 71Five (71 Five)
Amundsen said he’s dipping into the nonprofit’s reserves to ensure staff aren’t laid off and local youth aren’t turned away for lack of resources.
“We are now [dealing with this] “Right now, the grant amount is over 10 percent of our budget, so to remove the grant we would have to find another way to raise funds,” he said. “Right now, we’ve had to spend $187,000 in reserve funds to keep the program going.”
“For the first time, Defendants have decided to bar faith-based organizations from participating in the program if they give preference to members of their own faith as employees and volunteers,” the lawsuit states. “With this new rule, Defendants have stripped 71Five Ministries of more than $400,000 in grant funding simply because the Christian ministry expects its employees and volunteers to share its religious beliefs and mission.”
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“Three times in seven years, the Supreme Court has had to tell states that they can’t exclude religious groups from programs simply because they are religious,” said Jeremiah Gallus, senior counsel for ADF.
“But unfortunately, people like officials in Oregon continue to push those boundaries, test them and find other ways to exclude religious groups. That’s wrong.”
“This is the sixth year in a row that Oregon has partnered with 71Five. No one disputes that 71Five is honorably fulfilling the objectives of the grant program and doing good work with young people. So to say you can’t help kids because you’re religious, because you have religious staff in some way, that’s not allowed under the First Amendment. Our Constitution doesn’t allow that.”
Jeremiah Gallus serves as senior adviser to the Alliance Defending Freedom and is a leading member of the organization’s Christian Ministries Center. (Fox News Digital)
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“At the end of the day, this is not only a violation of 71Five’s constitutional rights, which is bad enough, but it also hurts young people in Southern Oregon who don’t actually have access to these services. 71Five can’t expand their program to help more kids, and that’s a tragedy,” Gallus added. [at ADF] We want to ensure that 71Five is not excluded from future grant programs and that other religious groups do not suffer the same religious discrimination that 71Five did.”
When reached for comment, the Oregon Department of Education responded, “We do not comment on pending litigation.”
