4.3.2007

Another Win for Equal Access and a Major Victory for Faith-Based Organizations…
Northwest Marriage Institute, located in Washington State provides both biblically-based and secular marriage education workshops throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Over the past two years the institute had been awarded three federal grants that enabled it to provide the secular workshops for free for low-income families.  But to the anti-religious “cleansers,” vital assistance to struggling low-income families took a back seat to their relentless desire to drive anything that even smacks of “religion” out of the public square.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services seeking to deny the Institute from receiving funds for the workshops, as well as to force them to repay the funds they had already received – funds that were used solely for office equipment, and not to promote any religious viewpoint.  ADF attorneys went to bat for the Institute’s right to receive and keep the government funding.

Two weeks ago, a federal judge dismissed the Americans United lawsuit, affirming the Institute’s constitutional right to have the same access to government funding that all other groups enjoy.  A copy of the decision can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/LeavittOrder.pdf.

Thank you for your prayers and support, which always, along with God’s grace, make victories such as this possible! 

Read the ADF press release to learn more...



South Orange, New Jersey, officials finally allow same access as “Road Devils”…
A few weeks ago, I shared the story about how the village of South Orange, New Jersey, denied access to its village square to a Christian ministry that wanted to do live skits and a puppet show for local children, while allowing the “Road Devils” to have access – complete with loud music, alcohol consumption, and nearly naked female images.

ADF allied attorney Demetrios Stratis filed a lawsuit on behalf of a local ministry, Care and Share, that had requested access to the public square to hold their wholesome event.  They were told “no” because only “private and public non-religious groups” would be allowed to use the space.  One of those “groups” was the motorcyclists who engaged in the behavior described above. 

Last week, the village backed down and said that they would never again discriminate against a religious organization based on viewpoint.  The ministry can now have the same access to the public square as the “Road Devils.”

Equal access means just that – access includes ministries that serve Christ.  Thank you for making these seemingly “obvious,” but critical, victories possible through your prayers and support.

Read the ADF press release to learn more...

Prayer Requests | Visit the ADF prayer page
"Without Christ, we can do nothing." - John 15:5

1. Please pray for White House Press Secretary Tony Snow as he battles cancer.
   
2. Please pray for the ongoing marriage cases in California, Connecticut, Iowa, and Maryland.