Christianity Today 26 Mar 2014:
Only two days after announcing it would hire Christians in same-sex marriages, World Vision U.S. has reversed its ground-breaking decision after weathering intense criticism from evangelical leaders. President Richard Stearns: ‘Certain beliefs are so core to our Trinitarian faith that we must take a strong stand on those beliefs.’ READ MORE
ABC News 27 March 2014
Facing a firestorm of protest, the prominent Christian relief agency World Vision on Wednesday dropped a two-day-old policy that would have allowed the charity to hire Christians in same-sex marriages. The aid group told supporters in a letter that the board had made a mistake and was returning to its policy requiring celibacy outside of marriage “and faithfulness within the Bible covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.” “We have listened to you and want to say thank you and to humbly ask for your forgiveness,” the agency said in the letter, signed by World Vision president Richard Stearns and board chairman Jim Bere.
Based in Federal Way, Wash., and started by evangelicals, World Vision has an international operating budget of nearly $1 billion and conducts economic development and emergency relief projects. In a conference call with reporters, Stearns said World Vision had not consulted enough with its partners before announcing the initial policy change. Since Monday, Stearns said the board had heard from major evangelical groups and leaders who had told them they had strayed from their core beliefs.
“We shouldn’t have been surprised but we were a bit,” Stearns said of the backlash. “Again, I think it goes back to we hadn’t done enough consultation on this. We hadn’t vetted this issue with people who could have given us really valuable input in the beginning. In retrospect, I can see why this was so controversial and troubling for many of our partners and supporters.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/world-vision-reverses-decision-hire-gays-23072525
