Federal Workers Granted Freedom to Express Christian Faith at Work
Federal workers are given the green light to express their faith more openly in the workplace. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Government’s Human Resources department, released a memo last week that detailed and encouraged the religious expression of government employees. “The Federal workforce should be a welcoming place for Federal employees who practice a religious faith. Allowing religious discrimination in the Federal workplace violates the law. It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly-qualified employees of faith,” the OPM memo from Scott Kupor, Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, said.
A More Neutral Environment in the Past
In the past, federal workplace policies were written to promote a more neutral environment regarding faith in the workplace, but that’s now changing.
“It presents a substantial shift in that it encourages employees to express their religious beliefs in the workplace,” Stefanie Camfield, Associate General Counsel at Engage PEO, told Relevant Magazine.
Camfield isn’t especially supportive of the shift because she believes the present political environment and increased religious expression will lead to arguments.
Religious Freedom Protected in Multiple Ways
Not only does the U.S. Constitution protect the religious freedom of all Americans, including federal workers, the memo pointed out, but “The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified that the Free Exercise Clause ‘protects not only the right to harbor religious beliefs inwardly and secretly,’ but also ‘protect[s] the ability of those who hold religious beliefs of all kinds to live out their faiths in daily life.’ Indeed, ‘respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic.’”
Freedom of religious expression is also protected by Federal statutes, which restrict the Federal government from “…discriminating in employment based on religion or religious expression,” the memo said.
The five-page memo offers guidance to the various departments on allowing federal workers to practice their religious expression as fully as they desire, unless that expression causes departmental hardship. In that case, the memo instructs departments to review and revise their policies to accommodate the religious expression of employees as adequately as possible.
Some of the many actions and activities employees are being told they can express in the workplace include:
- Displaying religious items such as crosses, Bibles, religious artwork, religious sayings, crucifixes, mezuzahs, the Star of David, and religious clothing.
- Expressions of faith include prayer, Bible study, or a Bible study group (outside of work hours). Prayer includes freedom for VA doctors or other healthcare workers to pray with patients for their recovery or for coworkers to pray for each other.
- Conversations about various religious topics, including witnessing to coworkers.
- Employees and/or supervisors may invite coworkers and/or subordinates to their place of worship, even if the invited person is not of the same faith.
The OPM memo arrives on the heels of an executive order signed by President Trump back in February in which he established The White House Faith Office “…to assist faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship in their efforts to strengthen American families, promote work and self-sufficiency, and protect religious liberty…”
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Ak Phuong
Originally published August 05, 2025.
