Learn about religious freedom legal challenges facing Christian schools in four key areas: admissions, employment, health insurance, and athletics.
PROTECTING YOUR CHRISTIAN SCHOOL:
How to Better Prepare Your School for Religious Freedom Legal Threats
ESTIMATED READING TIME:
25 min 17 seconds
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:6
Christian schools are a vital part of the education ecosystem in the United States. They can be integral in providing the training that Proverbs 22:6 mentions, because they help instruct children and young adults in the way they should go – how to think about the world through a biblical framework, how to live in obedience to God’s desires and design, and how to better understand where they fit into God’s plans and purposes for this world and their lives. Christian education aims to shape the whole individual.
Christian schools also provide an appealing alternative for many parents who are disheartened by secularism and radical curricula often seen in public schools today.
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In a culture that is becoming increasingly secular and even sometimes outright hostile to biblical beliefs, Christian schools face increased threats to their religious freedom, which can hinder their ability to operate and minister according to their faith. We see challenges arising in four key areas: admissions, employment, health insurance, and athletics. Let’s take a look at these areas.
We recommend using “circuit-breakers” that interrupt or terminate the admissions process if applicants’ beliefs or behaviors are inconsistent with your school’s religious beliefs. These practices allow prospective students and their families to understand where you stand. The practices also allow your school to vet incoming students and parents, which is an extremely important part of the process.
Your Christian school’s staff play a critical role in helping lead your institution. They help shape the minds of students, set the tone for your institution’s academic rigor and quality, and are integral in teaching the faith to future generations. So, it is important that employees agree with and abide by your school’s deeply held religious beliefs.
Those advancing gender identity ideology and abortion have begun using health insurance mandates as a means to force these harmful ideologies on religious ministries – including Christian schools.
Currently, many states and even the federal government require employee and student health plans to cover contraceptives, including ones that can and do take the life of an unborn child (called abortifacients).
A fundamental principle in sports is fairness in competition. Without principles of fairness creating guardrails in athletics, competition essentially ceases to exist. In so many aspects of life, we seek and advocate for a “level playing field.” This common idiom reveals the importance of fairness in sports. Nowhere is this more important than the actual playing fields from where the idiom originally arose.
Your statement of faith should be the foundational document for your school. The statement expresses your ministry’s core religious beliefs and serves as the backbone of your school’s policies and procedures. Because of its importance, your school’s statement of faith should appear in the ministry’s bylaws and be regularly referred back to by its other policy documents.
Christian schools are vital for passing on the faith to the next generation. The future leaders of business, academia, law, government, the Church, and more are currently in classrooms across the country learning biblical principles within these institutions. But schools are under increased scrutiny and leading a Christian school in this day and age is becoming an increasingly daunting task.
A Christian school’s admissions process is a window into its core values.
Take Bethel Christian Academy in Maryland for example. It is a private Christian school that serves more than 250 students in pre-K through eighth grade. Its mission is to “create an authentic Christian learning community to train students to know, love, and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and to equip them spiritually and academically to be lights to the world.” But the school isn’t only committed to providing a quality education for kids; it’s also providing things like before- and after-school programs where students can have meals, work on their homework, and participate in activities while their parents are at work. It happily serves children with diverse backgrounds, educating students from over 40 different countries, including children who recently immigrated to the United States, and families with different or no religious affiliations. Around 80 percent of the school’s students are from minority populations, and over 20 percent are eligible to receive financial aid from the state.
Bethel Christian Academy was a part of the state’s BOOST program, a voucher program designed to give low-income families a chance to send their kids to a top-notch school. But in August 2018, families who received financial aid through BOOST received some bad news. Maryland informed these families—only weeks before classes started—that they would no longer be able to use that financial aid at Bethel Christian Academy, leaving many of them scrambling to enroll their kids in a different school. As if that weren’t bad enough, the state also demanded that Bethel pay back the more than $100,000 it had received from families using BOOST funding.
Why the sudden change?
Bethel’s Christian beliefs.
The state of Maryland didn’t like what it saw in Bethel’s student handbook, especially its stated beliefs about marriage and sexuality. Along with stating it believed in the biblical definition of marriage, the school required its students to not engage in any sexual conduct, which is appropriate considering Bethel’s student body is grades pre-K through 8th grade.
But that didn’t stop Maryland from removing Bethel from the BOOST program. The state claimed that Bethel discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation in its admissions processes. But this was false. Bethel admits any qualified student applicant, Christian or not. And it has never, and will never, discriminate against an applicant based on an applicant’s sexual orientation.
It is clear that the state made this decision based solely on its opposition to Bethel’s religious beliefs about marriage – and that is unconstitutional.
Your school needs to take proactive steps to help protect its constitutional freedoms. And your admissions process is a great place to start.
Your school can use well-defined admissions criteria and procedures that clearly reflect that it is a Christian ministry. If your admissions process is automatic, it is not reinforcing your religious liberty.
At ADF, we recommend using “circuit-breakers” that interrupt or terminate the admissions process if applicants’ beliefs or behaviors are inconsistent with your school’s religious beliefs. These practices allow prospective students and their families to understand where you stand. The practices also allow your school to vet incoming students and parents, which is an extremely important part of the process.
Some quick things to consider:
Christian schools should consider how to carry out discipline and dismissal. These procedures should incorporate the school’s beliefs and be applied consistently to the entire student body.
We recommend the following documents be reviewed by a religious freedom attorney as they are critical to best protecting your rights as a ministry:
If a lawsuit is filed against your school related to student admissions, discipline, or dismissal, it could implicate the school’s religious liberty. Your stand in the lawsuit could be critical to upholding religious freedom for your institution and others. Matters that could lead to a lawsuit should be discussed with a religious liberty attorney as soon as possible.
Christian schools currently have more freedom than you may realize when it comes to determining who attends your school. By exercising its First Amendment freedoms, your Christian school can apply biblical principles to its students, become better prepared with proper documentation, and proactively protect its religious liberties to the greatest extent possible.
One of the benefits of membership in ADF Church & Ministry Alliance is that an experienced religious freedom attorney will review your school’s core documents. Click here to learn more.
Your Christian school’s staff play a critical role in helping lead your institution. They help shape the minds of students, set the tone for your institution’s academic rigor and quality, and are integral in teaching the faith to future generations. So, it is important that employees agree with and abide by your school’s deeply held religious beliefs.
But many activists and politicians disagree with that notion. As the secularization of our society continues at an increasing pace, hostility toward biblical beliefs, teachings, conduct, and even the basic idea of religious freedom is on the rise. For instance, opponents of religious freedom have begun to misuse non-discrimination laws to try to reduce the employment rights of Christian schools.
An example of this troubling phenomenon is the Virginia Values Act. Enacted in the summer of 2020, this state law added sexual orientation and gender identity language to existing non-discrimination laws. In practice, this law strips faith-based organizations, including Christian schools, of their right to operate and make employment decisions according to their mission and core beliefs. Under the law, religious schools, ministries, and even churches cannot make employment decisions based on their employees’ actions—even if those actions contradict their religious beliefs.
And what happens if a Christian school chooses not to abandon its biblical beliefs? They face investigations, lawsuits, fines of up to $100,000 per violation, unlimited legal fees, and court orders forcing them to violate their convictions.
This is clearly a violation of a Christian school’s religious freedom and right to operate according to its deeply held religious beliefs. That’s why Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit in Virginia on behalf of three Christian schools, two churches, and a pro-life ministry challenging this law.
The threats are clearly mounting but there are practical steps you can take to strengthen your religious freedom protections.
Your school’s employment documents are critical to affirming your rights as a religious ministry. The following documents – agreed to and signed by employees – are recommended to ensure your school is availing itself of the greatest religious liberty protections possible. As a best practice, the following types of documents should be reviewed by a religious freedom attorney:
As legislation arises – at the federal, state, or local level – that impacts your freedom to choose your school’s employees, consider how you might speak against that legislation. Neglecting to make your voice heard on legislation that impacts your school may result in negative outcomes for your freedom.
But be aware that speaking out against specific legislation may be considered lobbying. Schools must limit lobbying to an “insubstantial amount.” We recommend speaking with an attorney before engaging in lobbying activities.
Schools do not always have to wait to be sued to address an unjust law. At times, bad laws can be challenged in court before those laws are enforced against a school. These “pre-enforcement” challenges can not only help protect your school but may also help protect other Christian schools.
But if your school is sued due to an unjust law, your defensive stand in the lawsuit could be critical to upholding religious freedom. Matters that could lead to a lawsuit should be discussed with an attorney as soon as possible.
One of the benefits of becoming a member of ADF Church & Ministry Alliance is that an experienced religious freedom attorney will review your school’s employment policies and procedures. Click here to learn more.
Those advancing gender identity ideology and abortion have begun using health insurance mandates as a means to force these harmful ideologies on religious ministries – including Christian schools.
Currently, many states and even the federal government require employee and student health plans to cover contraceptives, including ones that can and do take the life of an unborn child (called abortifacients). Some states even require the coverage of surgical abortion in employee health plans.
And the bad news doesn’t stop there. A small but growing number of jurisdictions require ministries to include so-called sex reassignment in their group health care plans. And a proposed bill at the federal level – deceptively named the “Equality Act” – would probably be interpreted to force Christian schools to include sex reassignment in their student and employee health plans if enacted. The Equality Act is similar to the previously mentioned Virginia Values Act. Unfortunately, its reach is more expansive, and its penalties are likely to be more severe.
Paying for abortions and “sex reassignment” is contrary to the religious beliefs of many Christian schools – and governing officials know that. Instead of offering relief and protection for the schools to operate according to their religious beliefs, as the First Amendment requires, officials have fought schools in court. These are not oversights accidentally included when drafting the law but intentional attempts at forced compliance.
Your school shouldn’t have to compromise on its deeply held religious beliefs. While the pressure is rising and secular forces continue to assert their will against biblical beliefs, values, and the freedom to live them out, there are some best practices your school can follow right now to better defend your religious freedom.
Christian schools should review their insurance policies – and contact their insurance brokers and agents – to ensure they are not inadvertently covering life-ending drugs, procedures, or devices as well as “sex reassignment” drugs or procedures.
Schools should clearly communicate their sincerely held religious beliefs and implement Christian Codes of Conduct for employees and students to agree to and sign.
We recommend the following documents to help ensure your school is making use of the religious freedom protections available. These documents should be reviewed by a religious freedom attorney.
As mentioned in the employment section, wise engagement with public officials can help better preserve your religious freedom. It’s critical to take a stand and let your local, state, and federal representatives know your thoughts and convictions when proposed legislation arises that impacts your freedom to provide health insurance that aligns with your religious convictions. However, there are limitations to how much engagement is permitted. We recommend you seek counsel from an experienced religious freedom attorney on this matter. Click here to see how ADF Church & Ministry Alliance attorneys can help your school today.
A fundamental principle in sports is fairness in competition. Without principles of fairness creating guardrails in athletics, competition essentially ceases to exist. In so many aspects of life, we seek and advocate for a “level playing field.” This common idiom reveals the importance of fairness in sports. Nowhere is this more important than the actual playing fields from where the idiom originally arose.
But as gender ideologies continue to take a deeper root in our institutions and society, the fair (or level) playing field many have sought to create, especially for women in athletics, is starting to slip away. This is even beginning to impact athletics in Christian schools.
For instance, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Alliance Defending Freedom is asking to intervene in a lawsuit on behalf of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). ACSI’s schools have approximately 500,000 students throughout the country and are challenging the Biden administration’s reinterpretation of federal law that allows males to compete on female athletic teams. This reinterpretation is being spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Education. This agency argues that Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which prohibits “discrimination on the basis of sex,” also bars discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
As activist groups have argued, this could require that schools subject to Title IX allow males who identify as female to participate on female athletic teams and use female-designated showers and locker rooms.
ACSI schools compete against public schools that receive federal financial assistance and are required to adhere to the new federal mandate. This places ACSI, other Christian schools, and their female athletes at a disadvantage because the public schools they compete against in athletic events would be required by the Biden administration to permit males to compete on female sports teams. The fair playing field for women athletes that Title IX was initially designed to create is now ironically and tragically being used to undermine the very women it was intended to help.
Similar to the process mentioned earlier in “Review Application Procedures,” your school should have well-defined admissions criteria and procedures and consider adopting the previously mentioned “circuit-breaker” approach to admissions. These practices allow prospective students and their families to understand where you stand as well as allow the school to vet incoming students and parents.
Christian schools should ensure their athletic programs are grounded in the school’s sincerely held religious beliefs about athletics and their importance in the lives of your school’s students.
Be sure to define how discipline and dismissal will be carried out at your school. And don’t forget to tie your school’s deeply held beliefs to these policies in writing. Also, always apply these policies consistently across the entire student body.
As previously discussed, the documents required by your school should be reviewed by a religious freedom attorney to ensure your school is making use of the greatest religious liberty protections possible.
Engaging with governing authorities is a viable means of exercising your rights. But as also previously mentioned, there are limits to this type of engagement and a religious freedom attorney should be consulted to help you navigate this area.
If your school is sued because of its athletics policy, mounting a legal defense could not only help your school but also other Christian schools around the country. If your institution is sued, any matters related to litigation should be discussed with an attorney as soon as possible. Click here to see how ADF Church & Ministry Alliance attorneys can come alongside your school to help in these matters today.
Your statement of faith should be the foundational document for your school. The statement expresses your ministry’s core religious beliefs and serves as the backbone of your school’s policies and procedures. Because of its importance, your school’s statement of faith should appear in the ministry’s bylaws and be regularly referred back to by its other policy documents.
Your statement of faith should address a broad range of religious beliefs – including its beliefs about marriage, sexuality, and the sanctity of human life. And the more detailed, the better because courts generally regard a clear statement of faith as an expression of the ministry’s doctrine and defer to it as the First Amendment requires.
A facility use policy is critical for any Christian school that allows its facilities to be used by the public. While ministries have significant freedom to use their buildings consistent with their faith, there are still some restrictions on how your facilities can be used, and some government officials are working hard to further restrict the freedom of local ministries to operate according to their Christian convictions. Your school can strengthen its religious liberty protections by adopting a facility use policy that outlines the religious nature of the building and prohibits uses that conflict with the school’s beliefs. This policy is clear evidence of your school’s beliefs and practices regarding use of its property and why certain practices or activities are never permitted.
Christian schools are vital for passing on the faith to the next generation. The future leaders of business, academia, law, government, the Church, and more are currently in classrooms across the country learning biblical principles within these institutions. But schools are under increased scrutiny and leading a Christian school in this day and age is becoming an increasingly daunting task.
Without proper advice and safeguards in place, schools have mounting religious liberty related legal burdens including government grants and regulations, facility use, volunteer requirements, tax exemption, employment, and more. These legal burdens often distract from the core mission of your school and ultimately hinder your ministry.
Principals, headmasters, and superintendents shouldn’t have to bear the full weight of religious liberty burdens that come with the changing culture. But few schools have the resources for regular legal consultations or to respond if a legal challenge arises. And the legal preparation and protection that schools need is often too costly to afford.
The risks of not being as prepared as possible are even higher. Critical governance documentation may be incomplete or outdated. Schools may be unsure of how to handle issues that they should have the freedom to address. And if a religious freedom lawsuit comes their way, they often don’t know where to turn. Without legal help, schools may, even unknowingly, surrender many of their First Amendment rights that are central to maintaining their identity and ability to teach the next generation of Christian leaders.
By God’s grace, Alliance Defending Freedom has been at the forefront of legal issues impacting the religious freedom of schools, businesses, churches, and nonprofits for nearly three decades. We have seen the changes in our culture lead to legal challenges that threaten the ability of Christians to freely live and share the Gospel.
That is why Alliance Defending Freedom launched ADF Church & Ministry Alliance – to provide schools and other ministries with the religious liberty legal help they need to freely minister. We hope your school will consider joining us in ADF Church & Ministry Alliance membership so that you can have the best preparation and protection possible without the traditionally high cost of robust legal support.
"ADF leads the way, challenge after legal challenge, uniting our organization with other ministries from across the country to help strengthen religious freedom. We have no other partner so vital to the work we do. We are grateful for them, and encourage every Christian ministry that holds to biblical standards to join with ADF and help support them financially. When there’s a need — and there are plenty — they stand in the gap and support our Christian communities."
David Goodwin
President of the Association of Classical Christian Schools
“We call those who defend us ‘advocates' - a word with deep meaning describing someone with the skill, experience, and the will necessary to fight and win. ADF and their highly qualified attorneys embody everything it means to be a true advocate. We encourage all AACS member schools to join ADF’s affiliate program. Their work for religious liberty, their will to win, and their track record of victories make partnership with them one of the best investments a ministry can make.”
Jamison Coppola
Government Relations Director for the American Association of Christian Schools
“Without the work of ADF, our schools would be at a greater risk of not being able to exercise our missions. We encourage all CESA schools to join ADF Ministry Alliance and take advantage of the benefits provided through this excellent and timely program.”
Dr. Katie Wiens
Executive Director of the Council on Educational Standards and Accountability
"The world is changing. Protecting and managing the ministry and resources God entrusted to you is getting more complicated. The first step any Christian school or church ministry should take is to join the Alliance Defending Freedom Ministry Alliance."
Michael A. Burroughs
Executive Director of the International League of Christian Schools
“ADF is a friend to our association and its member schools, partnering with us and other ministries throughout the country to preserve our religious freedom. I encourage every Christian ministry to join with ADF and help support them in their essential work – protecting religious liberty to allow us to do what God has called us to do. Challenges will inevitably arise; I am thankful that ADF will stand in the gap and support our ministries.”
Edward Earwood
Executive Director of the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools
“We are grateful for TACS’ partnership with Alliance Defending Freedom. Today, more than ever, our Christian schools need resources to protect religious liberty and education freedom. The ADF Ministry Alliance provides TACS schools with access to attorneys and legal resources as well as proactive measures like document review. ADF’s personal touch and quick responses have been second to none.”
Randy Scallions
Executive Director of the Tennessee Association of Christian Schools
ADF attorneys can offer guidance on religious liberty issues, help you understand the legal significance of the language you use to describe your ministry, and draw your attention to potential legal issues that could impact your kingdom work. We want you to have peace of mind, ensuring you stand on a firm legal foundation.
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The content above serves as an educational resource and is not a substitute for legal advice. We encourage you to reach out to an ADF attorney for specific religious liberty questions or situations relating to your school. Advice and representation, within our scope of services, are part of the benefit of membership in ADF Ministry Alliance.
