"World Vision's reaffirmation of orthodox faith helps to ensure it has a robust if not easy future ahead. God bless its faithfulness and ministry." -- Mark Tooley, IRD President

Contact: Jeff Walton, Institute on Religion and Democracy, 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639, jwalton@TheIRD.org

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- World Vision USA, the Christian international humanitarian organization, has announced in a letter that it is reversing a policy change announced two days ago to change its conduct policies to permit employees in same-sex marriages.

In the letter, World Vision's president and board chair apologized and reaffirmed the group's policy of "sexual abstinence for all single employees and faithfulness within the Biblical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman."

IRD President Mark Tooley commented:

"World Vision deserves thanks today for reaffirming traditional Christian teachings on marriage after announcing on Monday that it would dilute its marriage stance, which it now admits was a 'mistake.' Likely many thousands of its Evangelical supporters will be much relieved.

"Presumably World Vision, like other Christian organizations, is under tremendous cultural and financial pressure, perhaps even implied legal pressure, to surrender its fidelity to Christian teachings. Evangelicals and traditional Christians of all branches should pray for and affirm World Vision's biblically informed ministry.

"Maybe World Vision in the future will lose corporate support. Maybe it will lose government support. All traditional Christian groups operating in the current Zeitgeist face an impending Winter of secularist hostility. But religious groups that surrender their core convictions almost always are diminished and become irrelevant.

"World Vision's reaffirmation of orthodox faith helps to ensure it has a robust if not easy future ahead. God bless its faithfulness and ministry."

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