Christian Educator Strengthened Through the (Legal) Trials
by Jim Brown
September 8, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Christian teacher in Indiana who lost her religious discrimination lawsuit against United Methodist-affiliated DePauw University says she has gained spiritual strength through adversity.In 2001 DePauw cut administrator Janis Price's pay 25 percent, stripped her of all her titles, suspended her teaching duties, and placed her on probation (see related article)-- all for making Christian educators' magazines from Focus on the Family available in her classroom. Two years later, a jury unanimously awarded her more than $10,000 in lost wages, but the Indiana Court of Appeals tossed out that verdict and the State Supreme Court declined to take her appeal.
Despite the legal setbacks, Price says the Lord has been faithful to encourage her through those difficult times.
"One of the scriptures that has been very meaningful to me is the first part of Hebrews 12, where it talks about how we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith," Price shares. "And as I've gone through persecution and discrimination because of my Christian faith, I have tried to do that very thing ... to keep my eyes fixed and focused on Jesus Christ."
Price says she harbors no resentment toward DePauw for what it did to her. "It was a real breakthrough for me personally when I was able to, on my knees, pray for the administrators who had been very hateful and hurtful to me," she says. "I recognize the fact that ... people [who hurt often] hurt people. And their motivation, I think, was to hurt me professionally."
The former administrator says the Lord has guided her into a new area of ministry. She is currently supervising student teachers for Indiana Wesleyan University (Marion, IN) -- a school that she says openly welcomes teachers and students who are born-again Christians.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
