California Bureaucrats Relent After Targeting Christian Preschool for Its Beliefs

It’s always wrong for the government to violate religious freedom, but it’s particularly cruel when it does so in a way that harms children in need.

In the state of California, that’s exactly what both federal and state officials did to the Church of Compassion and its preschool and daycare, Dayspring Christian Learning Center.

Faithful service to a community in need

The Church of Compassion is a non-denominational Christian church in El Cajon, California. The church describes itself as “Spirit Filled, centered upon the Word of God and … family oriented.” The Church of Compassion also operates Dayspring Christian Learning Center, a preschool and daycare that serves children from the surrounding community.

El Cajon, just miles from the Mexican border, is home to a large population of immigrants. About 28 percent of its residents were not born in the United States. The city also has a lower median income than in most other parts of California, with nearly one-fifth of residents living below the poverty level.

Dayspring Christian Learning Center is dedicated to serving everyone in the community, including those in poverty. Many families at Dayspring rely on the meals and snacks their children receive at the preschool to keep from going hungry.

Targeted for their Christian beliefs

For almost 20 years, Dayspring participated in an initiative called the Child and Adult Care Food Program, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The program provides reimbursements for nutritious snacks and meals for children and adults at participating care centers—helping Dayspring to serve the less fortunate in the community. But in 2022, something changed.

Each year, the Church of Compassion and Dayspring Christian Learning Center had participated in the food program with no problems. At one point, Dayspring was receiving between $3,500 and $4,000 a month to help cover the costs of providing food to students at the preschool.

To qualify for the program, schools must comply with Title IX—the law passed by Congress in 1972 to address sex discrimination and barriers that women faced in education.

But in 2021, with no prior notice, the USDA posted a “departmental regulation” that redefined “sex” in Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Then in May 2022, it sent an update to all state directors instructing them to apply the new interpretation of the law.

This redefinition of federal law would force Dayspring and the Church of Compassion to treat males who identify as female as if they are in fact female, which would violate their deeply held religious beliefs about sex and gender.

The implications would be far-ranging: Dayspring would be forced to open sex-specific bathrooms to members of the opposite sex and abolish its dress codes for boys and girls based on their biological differences. The USDA’s new regulation would even force Dayspring employees to use pronouns that conflict with a person’s biological sex.

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) administers the Food Program at the state level, and it imposed additional state regulations prohibiting Dayspring and the Church of Compassion from living out their religious beliefs.

Even though Title IX explicitly exempts religious institutions from requirements that force them to violate their faith, CDSS ignored this exemption. When Dayspring asked to remove the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from the agreement because of its beliefs, CDSS denied its application to continue participating in the Food Program.

CDSS told Dayspring and the Church of Compassion that to continue participating in the program, they must agree to the new “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” rules as written, vow to comply with state and federal laws (even though the laws would force them to violate their beliefs), and stop requiring church employees to agree with and live out the church’s religious beliefs.

The church appealed the denial to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) in November 2022, but an administrative law judge ruled OAH did not have authority to decide the church and Dayspring’s constitutional challenges to the new requirements.

CDSS removed their access to the program, and ADF Allied Attorneys subsequently filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dayspring Christian Learning Center and the Church of Compassion. ADF attorneys later joined the case and filed an amended complaint.

Officials settle the case

After filing the lawsuit, attorneys with ADF, the National Center for Law and Policy, and Advocates for Faith and Freedom reached a favorable settlement with California state officials.

As part of the settlement, the officials acknowledged that Church of Compassion and Dayspring are free to continue participating in the Food Program. The officials also agreed to reimburse the church for the money it paid out of pocket to continue providing meals to students and pay for attorneys’ fees.

Government agencies don’t have the authority to change federal laws, nor can they force religious organizations to violate their beliefs. By denying Dayspring and the Church of Compassion’s application to continue participating in the Food Program, CDSS was doing both.

Children should not be deprived of meals because of unconstitutional requirements by the government. While it shouldn’t have taken a lawsuit to settle that question, Church of Compassion is now free to continue its service to the community.

Church of Compassion v. Johnson

• May 2022: The USDA notified all state directors that it was changing its interpretation of the word “sex” in federal law to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
• October 2022: CDSS denied Church of Compassion and Dayspring Christian Learning Center’s application to continue participating in the Food Program. In April, CDSS had informed Dayspring and the church that they had to agree to the redefinition of “sex,” and Dayspring had asked to remove the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from the agreement.
• November 2022: Responding to an appeal from Dayspring and the church, an administrative law judge ruled that the Office of Administrative Hearings did not have the authority to decide the constitutional challenges the religious organizations brought. CDSS later removed the organizations’ access to the Food Program.
• March 2023: Attorneys with the National Center for Law and Policy and Advocates for Faith and Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dayspring and the church.
• June 2023: ADF attorneys joined the case and filed an amended complaint and motion for preliminary injunction on behalf of Dayspring and the church.
• January 2024: California state officials agreed to settle the case, acknowledging Church of Compassion and Dayspring’s freedom to continue participating in the Food Program.