All together now: Who. What. When. Where. Why. How.
Once upon a time, journalists were really curious people when it came to seeking basic, on-the-record answers to factual questions linked to the stories they were covering. That old “W5H” equation didn’t cover all the bases, of course, but it wasn’t a bad place to start.
When covering stories about a religious group, it really helps to know the specific religious tradition or larger organization (think “denomination”) to which it is linked. If it’s an ecumenical or interfaith group, that may require seeking the ties that band various groups of people who are involved in this project.
This brings us to a recent Kansas City Star report that ran with this headline: “KC Christian school lost donations after supporting LGBTQ rights. Now it’s closing.”
By definition, a “Christian school” is a religious organization. I have never heard of one that did not have ties of some kind — financial, theological, cultural or historical — to a specific religious tradition or to a group of churches that helped it get started. Think of this as the “Who” and “Why” factors.
Yes, in this nondenominational age a school may, in fact, have links to a number of congregations or religious networks. But that doesn’t mean there are no, to quote that old Gospel hymn, "ties that bind.” A nondenominational school will still have specific flocks of believersthat provide students, donations, training and other kinds of practical support.
The Urban Christian Academy certainly fits the nondenominational mold, or lack of a mold. Check out its online “manifesto” about it’s spiritual and intellectual commitments. However, that doesn’t mean that its leaders have zero practical or even personal links to institutional churches or other schools.
There was plenty of room to address questions of this kind in this 1,500-word feature. Was there a reason that the Kansas City Star included next to zero information about the institutional DNA of this urban school? I find the newsroom’s lack of curiosity to be be rather curious. Let’s look at a few pieces of this report and look for clues as to what is going on, starting with the overture:
In its nine years of existence, Urban Christian Academy steadily grew, adding a new grade each year in a neglected southeast Kansas City neighborhood.
The school has provided its students, kindergarten through eighth grade, with a tuition-free private education. And with its “inclusive theology,” it always supported LGBTQ students and staff. But it did so quietly, as issues like same-sex marriage and gay clergy divided Protestant denominations while hate crimes and violence against the LGBTQ community rose.
OK, this is a story about theological, doctrinal divisions inside “Protestant denominations.” Thus, I will ask: Which denominations are relevant in this case?
Why was the school “quiet” on its LGBTQ doctrinal commitments? Clearly, this is because of divisions in the churches and families that have backed the school. Once again: Which churches? Which traditions?
Watch the video at the top of the report about the founding of this school. It’s clear that this school is linked to networks of Black and white churches. Which ones? What “traditions” are in the mix?
Let’s read on, starting after the point where executive director and co-founder Kalie Callaway-George describes its decision to recognize the “hurt and pain our queer community members were experiencing.” Once again, what churches and traditions do the “queer community members” represent?
The school updated its mission statement and website, stating that it affirms LGBTQ rights, and informed the school community of the change in a newsletter.
In the following six months, Callaway-George said, the school lost 42% of its funding — donations from churches and congregation members that keep the school running and pay for students’ tuition. By the end of 2022, the school lost 80% of its funding. And now, officials say the school is forced to close this spring.
The school, states Callaway-George, has been “bombarded by hate,” in response to its honest statement of its doctrinal commitments (read the specifics of that here).
Once again, where are these messages coming from? Donors from what churches and traditions? Parents from what churches and traditions?
Perhaps it would help to talk to some of these hateful people?
Hold that thought, because it is time for the Kansas City Star to preach a bit. This is long, but crucial:
The controversy goes to the heart of how Christians define Christianity.
One angry patron wrote the school: “Although we love and admire you in many ways, for your hard work, compassion, commitment, strength, we draw the line at this issue. Christian compassion doesn’t mean universalism. Jesus loved all, but told them, ‘go and sin no more.’ He died so we could be saved, healed, delivered, and set free.”
Callaway-George takes a different view of Jesus’ teachings: “As a Christian school, we believe that each of these beloved humans was made in the image of God.”
Before publicly supporting the LGBTQ community, Urban Christian Academy raised nearly $334,000 in December 2021. This past December, donations dropped to $14,800.
All eight churches that helped fund the school withdrew their support, “citing a disagreement of values based on the inclusion of the LGBTQ community,” Callaway-George said.
“We have zero regrets in putting that stake in the ground. However, we are heartbroken and devastated that so many donors choose to withdraw their funding from the UCA scholars in response to this message,” officials said in a recent newsletter.
Some families pulled their children out of the school of 100 students. And after two teachers resigned at Christmas break this school year, Urban Christian Academy closed its first, second and third grade classrooms.
Wait, that’s “universalism”? That’s the doctrinal stance that all people, no matter what their beliefs about Jesus of Nazareth, are “saved” for all of eternity. There are churches that believe that and those that do not. Are there doctrinal issues in play here that are not about centuries of doctrines about marriage and sex?
Also, what are the names of some of the “eight churches” that withdrew their support? Was it possible to talk to any of the “hateful” leaders in these churches?
This brings us to a very interesting passage. Read this carefully:
Callaway-George said the school has reached out to churches that openly support the LGBTQ community in Kansas City, but none offered financial help.
The school has relied on Kansas City area churches since its start. Donations from churches made up only 2% of the school’s funding, though, with more coming from individuals. Callaway-George claimed that no other issues have led to the school’s situation.
Once again, what are the names of the nearby churches and denominations that “openly support the LGBTQ community”? Why would the leaders fail to support this idealistic urban school that boldly offers parents a choice other than what, in the school’s videos, are described as failing public schools?
Are we talking about liberal mainline Protestant churches? Would it be possible to talk to the leaders of any of these churches?
Meanwhile, the story mentions previous support from Wornall Road Baptist Church (current leaders pictured here) and then Pleasant Valley Baptist Church (current leaders pictured here).
As often happens these days, the story offers email quotes from many players in this story, as opposed to the sympathetic interviews with a few school leaders and supporters.
We are told that attendance at “parent-teacher nights” was 98%. But that remarkable fact only leads to emails chosen by the school’s leader:
Callaway-George said she began receiving hateful messages and requests to refund donations immediately after putting the support in writing. She shared examples of the responses donors and parents sent the school:
“As Christian ladies, you cannot have an inner peace in your heart about this. May God burden and chasten you with his mighty hand,” one message read.
“It makes me very sad to see that you have taken this path. My prayer is that God will protect these young lives from the false Gospel you are embracing, presenting and promoting to them. I believe this is a very sad day for the school, its students, teachers, parents and benefactors,” another said.
That leads to another passage, built on the views of a school supporter — which means this was a voice worthy of interview-depth information.
Da’Lesa Goodspeed, whose fourth grade son has attended the school since kindergarten, said she wasn’t surprised that officials supported the LGBTQ community.
“They were so welcoming and loving and wanted to show love through the Christian way, that I knew they were accepting of it,” she said. “It wasn’t a shocker for me. But I know for a lot of families, it was a shocker.
“I think some of the parents were concerned it was a Christian-based school. And some parents feel or believe because it’s Christian-based it should not be accepting of LGBTQ communities. That it’s against God,” she said. “And it spiraled down from there. Parents started talking about how they disagreed with it.”
You get the idea. Once again, there are “good” Christians on one side of this story — who are interviewed. Then there are “bad” Christians on the other side, which means they are represented by emails selected by the school’s leadership.
What is the painful reality that this story is striving to avoid? To answer that question, we would need to know something about the churches on both sides of this debate.
Here is my suggestion: Talk to the leaders of nearby African-American evangelical, Pentecostal and Baptist congregations, especially those linked to parents who were sending their children to this school.
Does this strike anyone else as a rather logical idea?
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