"In light of the serious sins which have resulted in Doug Phillips’s resignation from Vision Forum Ministries, the Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of all involved to discontinue operations. We have stopped receiving donations, and are working through the logistical matters associated with the closing of the ministry. While we believe as strongly as ever in the message of the ministry to the Christian family, we are grieved to find it necessary to make this decision. We believe this to be the best option for the healing of all involved and the only course of action under the circumstances."This will likely come as a blow to the conservative Christian homeschool movement. I'm eager to see how Vision Forum Ministries' supporters will respond to the organization's demise. Will other organizations fill the void that Vision Forum Ministries leaves behind, taking a central place in the Christian homeschool world? Will the fundamentalist homeschooling networks it supported falter, or will new networks arise? Will supporters of Christian homeschooling and the Christian Patriarchy Movement engage in soul-searching, or continue business as usual? Only time will tell.
Doug Phillips and Vision Forum Ministries promoted a warped worldview, saturated with misogyny, homophobia, ethnocentrism, and revisionist history. (See my commentary on the History of America Mega-Conference, Reformation of Food and the Family conference, Titanic commemoration, and 2011 CHAP convention for examples.) In doing so, they have done a grave disservice to the homeschooled children whose parents utilized Vision Forum resources. I won't lie. I will not miss them.
For additional commentary, visit the following links.
The Atlantic: An Infidelity Scandal Just Shuttered a Major 'Biblical Patriarchy' Organization
Spiritual Sounding Board: The Board of Vision Forum Ministries Announces the Closing of Vision Forum Ministries
The Life and Opinions of Kathryn Elizabeth, Person: Ding dong, Vision Forum Ministries is dead (But Vision Forum, Inc. is still raking in the cash)
Homeschoolers Anonymous: Vision Forum Ministries to Cease Operations
Interesting and great news.
ReplyDeleteThey say "sins." I wonder if there are more sins than have been publicly disclosed?
Bruce -- I noticed the use of "sins" (plural) too, and I wondered what it meant. Is there something they're not telling us? Maybe time will tell.
DeleteI wonder if ATI and Gothard are standing in the wings to sweep up the disheartened VF followers and move them into ATI?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous -- An unsettling thought, for sure.
Delete