After tumult, World Vision reverses decision to hire staff in same-sex unions

Christian relief organization World Vision has reversed its decision after announcing that it would no longer define marriage only as between a man and a woman in its employee conduct manual.

On March 24 the organization’s U.S. branch, based in Washington State, had said that it would recognize same-sex marriage as being within the norms of “abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage” cited in the conduct code for its 1,100 employees.

World Vision’s U.S. president Rich Stearns said, in a letter to workers, “I want to be clear that we have not endorsed same-sex marriage, but we have chosen to defer to the authority of local churches on this issue.” World Vision has employees who attend churches that conduct same-sex marriages, including the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, among others.