A Christian school in the U.S. State of Missouri will be closing permanently in May this year, following a decision by local churches to cut their funding over the School’s support for the LGBTQ+ community.
This decision highlights the ongoing tension between religious institutions and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the importance of inclusivity and acceptance in educational settings.
The closure of this School will also have an impact on the students and staff and raises questions about the future of LGBTQ+ support in religious institutions.
The Urban Christian Academy in Kansas City – a tuition-free private Christian school that teaches children from kindergarten through to eighth grade, however, according to the School’s co-founder, Kalie Callaway-George has been forced to shut down with the majority of its funding being lost.
Speaking about the funding loss with The Kansas City Star, Kalie Callaway-George, explained that the School was LGBTQ-inclusive and embraced “inclusive ideology,” resulting in Churches that had previously supported the School’s funding to retracted it “citing a disagreement of values based on the inclusion of the LGBTQ community.”
According to the reports, the academy raised almost $334,000 in December 2021 compared to $14,800 at the end of this year.
“We find ourselves in a season where we are running on very few resources, and each time attention is brought to the issue, we are bombarded by hate, which further distracts from our ability to care for the scholars we have in our care,” Callaway-George said.
Callaway-George explained that the School has reached out to churches in the area for support, but has yet to have a response.
The School is set to close its doors permanently On the 24th of May 2023.
