A federal court handed Washington state Christians a major legal victory by allowing churches to exclusively hire members of their own faith for jobs beyond strictly ministerial roles in one of the least religious states in the country.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Washington state’s interpretation of its Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) in a unanimous ruling. The Yakima Union Gospel Mission can prefer and hire “co-religionists for non-ministerial roles.”
The WLAD “prohibits employment discrimination based on several protected grounds, including sexual orientation,” according to the ruling’s summary. However, Union Gospel required workers to abide by Christian beliefs and practices regarding abstinence from sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and woman. The organization sued, alleging the WLAD violated its First Amendment protection under the Religion Clauses, a claim the court agreed with.
“Today’s ruling is especially significant because it answers an under-explored First Amendment question: Does a religious organization’s right to hire fellow believers extend to all staff positions, or only to ‘ministerial’ ones?” said Kristen Waggoner, head of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented Union Gospel. “In what we believe to be the first federal appellate court ruling of its kind, the Ninth Circuit explicitly held that the First Amendment protects faith-based hiring for all staff — not just ministerial employees.”
HUGE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WIN: Today the Ninth Circuit unanimously ruled in favor of Yakima Union Gospel Mission, a Christian homeless ministry seeking to uphold its right to hire employees who share its faith.@ADFLegal represented the Mission in its case against Washington state,… pic.twitter.com/08eGTexK6I
— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) January 6, 2026
ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus, who argued the case, issued a statement in the ADF’s press release. “Religious organizations shouldn’t be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who are aligned with and live out their shared religious beliefs,” he said. “Yakina Union Gospel Mission exists to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through its homeless shelter, addiction-recovery programs, outreach efforts, meal services, and health clinics.”
Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay pointed to church autonomy doctrine as described in the First Amendment, which he said “bars the government from intruding in religious organizations’ choice of ministers and clergy,” according to his opinion.
“Simply, the government has no business in policing who spreads the word on behalf of churches, synagogues, mosques, religious organizations, and other similar institutions,” Bumatay continued.
The state argued that Union Gospel lacked standing for the injunction as the state had already committed not to enforce WLAD against the hiring of an IT technician or operations assistant. However, the circuit court found the argument lacking as “the State has expressly refused to disavow enforcing WLAD against Union Gospel for the hiring of other non-ministerial positions.”
“[W]hile we may take the state at its word that it won’t sue Union Gospel for hiring its IT and operations support roles, the state has not confirmed what it will do if Union Gospel seeks to fill its cashier, cook, or nurse roles with members of its religion,” Bumatay said in his opinion. “So the state’s disavowal does not grant Union Gospel the relief it seeks.”
A 2024 Pew Research study found Washington state was tied with New York as the 37th least religious state in the U.S., with only 25% of Washingtonians considering themselves “very religious,” according to MyNorthwest.
Only 51% of Washington residents identified themselves as Christians, with 38% of Washington adults claiming they had no ties to any faith, MyNorthwest reported.
Although Union Gospel aims to hire those who share its religious beliefs, no discrimination or moral requirements are placed on recipients of its aid, according to the AFD press release.
