US: Church denied software for being “inclusive” of LGBT people
A church in Utah was not allowed to buy church management software, which enables efficient administration, because it was inclusive of LGBT people, which meant it was not “sufficiently Christian,” reports suggest.
Administrators at the Salt Lake Centre for Spiritual Living were surprised to find that more than one software developer turned the church away because it is inclusive of LGBT people.
The software helps to manage records, memberships, and facilitates other tasks. It is a varying market with many developers offering different packages.
Myna Hirst, a church spokesperson said the first developer, a company called Elexio, looked at the SLCSL’s website, and deemed that it did not fit with its company policy. She said:
“They sent us an email and said they’d looked at our website and found we violated company policy to not work with organizations that are more inclusive,” she said.
“There was a whole laundry list of things they opposed; abortion, pornography for example, and homosexuality was one of them.”
A second company, Church Teams, also refused to sell its software to the Centre for Spiritual Living, because it was not “sufficiently Christian for the company’s owners”.
Ms Hirst did say the church went on to find another company, Fellowship One, which would vend to it. She said:
“We finally found a company that would sell to us, called Fellowship One. But it was a little surprising to face so many problems,” she said. “We’ve never had a problem like that before.”
The church is one of three major metaphysical organizations in the nation and has hundreds of congregations around the world, she said.
The SLCSL is an LGBT-inclusive environment and is headed by an openly gay minister, who is in a relationship.
