(RNS) — After six years as a foster parent with Bethany Christian Services, Stacey Goodson, based in Western Michigan, has served her last foster youth — for now.
“I closed my license immediately,” Goodson told RNS. “I’m just not willing to be a part of something that I’m so strongly against.”
Her decision comes as stakeholders respond to the news that the influential evangelical nonprofit, which offers adoption, foster care and refugee and immigration services, will no longer employ or partner with people who are LGBTQ-affirming. The changes require staff, board members and foster and adoptive families to “personally agree and adhere to” a belief statement that defines marriage as “a covenant between one man and one woman.”
“The decision is really, really disappointing, because I want to continue fostering, and also I’m not going to support an agency that is so explicitly discriminatory,” said Goodson.
The move is a particular blow for those who celebrated Bethany’s 2021 decision to serve LGBTQ+ foster and adoption parents in the more than 25 states where it operates.
In a statement to RNS, the organization said its policy change was “solely motivated by our conviction that faithfulness to God’s Word must remain central to our mission of demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus through quality social services.” Some outside voices, including Katy Faust, a conservative activist who believes same-sex couples should not be parents, celebrated the change; on X, Faust said it was evidence that the “vibe shift” is having a “measurable impact.”
The social acceptance of LGBTQ+ relationships and same-sex ma …