Evangelical? If you run a soup kitchen, prison ministry, or a home for the mentally disabled, to stay operational you’ll need to rethink — or hide — that label if U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt’s ruling against Prison Fellowship Ministries’ InnerChange is allowed to stand. Otherwise, it could very well cost your ministry a lot of money in punitive damages, or even completely shut down your outreach.

A great deal of Judge Pratt’s negative ruling centers on his own concocted definition of evangelical Christianity, said Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship (PFM). “His (Pratt’s) definition will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, because of the erroneous nature of his definition and its caricature-like quality.”

According to Judge Pratt’s definition, you’ll be surprised to learn that Evangelicals:

“tend to be anti-sacramental, which means it downplays the traditional sacramental Christian events — baptism, holy communion or Eucharist, marriage, ordination, etc. — as appropriate ways to interact or meet with God… Whereas traditional, organized religious groups, such as Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, and Lutherans, employ a structured, highly liturgical style of worship, Evangelical Christian worship is free form with individual pastors given authority to determine how services are planned. For instance, Evangelical Christians have embraced contemporary music forms and multi-media presentations” (Case 4:03-cv-90074-RP-TJS Document 367).

Yikes! Contemporary music and multi-media presentations may threaten the constitutionality of charitable programs? It appears so, if Judge Pratt’s ruling is allowed to stand.

Pratt also ruled:

“The Prison Fellowship and InnerChange belief in the substitutionary and atoning death of Jesus, which reflects a legalistic understanding of the sacrifice of Jesus, likewise, is not shared by many Christians… Belief in the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus is also not shared by many other, non-Evangelical Christians… Belief in an imminent, personal, and visible second coming of Jesus Christ, as held by Prison Fellowship and InnerChange, does not comport with the belief held by other non-Evangelical Christians that, if a second coming of Christ occurs, its nature is unknown, or is more spiritualized” (Case 4:03-cv-90074-RP-TJS Document 367).