California Department of Social Services

Church of Compassion in San Diego feeds impoverished children as part of their ministry efforts. (Photo by Timothy Barlin from Unsplash)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has permanently revoked the Church of Compassion's funding for feeding impoverished children due to the church's biblical stance on human sexuality.

The First Amendment

In October 2022, the CDSS informed the church in San Diego that it would have to adopt policies supporting non-traditional sexual orientations and identities within 15 days.

If not, the church will risk losing government funding.

According to a report by the California Family, the church received support from the National Center for Law and Policy (NCLP), which filed a legal demand letter and administrative appeal.

As a result, the CDSS temporarily reinstated funding for the church.

The legal demand letter defined the Church of Compassion as a non-denominational Christian church.

It has traditional religious views on human sexuality, in line with the beliefs held by Christian churches for the past two thousand years.

It runs a daycare program called Dayspring Christian Learning Center, licensed to serve up to 112 children.

The CDSS is aware that the Church and Dayspring are faith-based non-profit agencies operating under its program guidelines.

The letter also stated that Dayspring does not discriminate against children based on the sexual orientation or gender identity of their family members.

With this, the president and chief counsel of NCLP, Dean Broyles, stated that the state could not force its beliefs about sexuality on religious institutions.

He also stated that the Supreme Court has ruled that the state cannot deny funding to religious organizations simply because of their beliefs.

Because of this, Broyles stated that the actions of the CDSS are unconstitutional and will not be tolerated, especially since such actions would violate the First Amendment.

The First Amendment protects people's freedom of speech.

It is stated in the Constitution that the legislative branch, known as Congress, shall not pass any laws that establish a specific religion or prevent people from freely practicing their religion.

Additionally, Congress shall not infringe on the freedom of speech, the press, or the right of individuals to gather peacefully and petition the government to address their grievances.

And so, the government, represented by the CDSS in this case, cannot dictate what individuals must say.

Because of the law’s premise, the NCLP noted in its legal demand letter that the government could not deny benefits to someone based on their protected freedom of speech, even if they are not entitled to such benefits.

Despite this, the CDSS continued to impose unconstitutional demands on churches and revoked the funding.

Protecting Right of Churches

The NCLP is preparing to take legal action in the form of a federal civil rights lawsuit against California's burdensome mandates related to LGBT issues and their impact on churches.

It will address the concerns of the Church of Compassion and its preschool.

However, it could also have a broader impact and defend the rights of thousands of other churches and religious organizations that hold traditional beliefs and receive government funding to serve their communities.