Christian school's pastor cancels Autism Awareness Week, calling it "demonic"

"If Jesus Christ led Trinity, would HE have an Autism Awareness Week? Of course not!," wrote pastor Matt Baker

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A Christian school in Florida abruptly canceled plans to honor Autism Awareness Week after Pastor Matt Baker sent out a mass email referring to the event as “demonic” and saying that recognizing autism like this amounted to “idolatry.”

It’s leading many families to question whether they should send their kids to Trinity Christian Academy. (I can help them: No.)

Pastor Matt Baker (screenshot via YouTube)

Trinity’s schedule for Autism Awareness Week was no different from anything you’d find in a public school, at least in substance. On various days, the school urged students to wear a fun hat (to celebrate uniqueness), to put on a tie-dye shirt (to celebrate neurodiversity), and to dress in a way that reveals their passions. The goal was to make sure kids with autism are accepted and loved. Sounds lovely (even with all the unnecessary biblical references).

Trinity Christian Academy’s flyer for Autism Awareness Week

If that’s supposed to be demonic, then Hail Satan…

According to the Palm Beach Post, Baker sent out an email on March 30 putting a premature end to everything. He explained that he had allowed the event to occur last year (when he was the interim head of school), but afterwards, he promised never to do it again. When he found out it was happening this year, perhaps because someone didn’t know the initiative had ended, he had to put an end to it.

"The word 'Christian' means 'Like Christ,' and it was given to the followers of Christ because they acted just like Jesus. Remember those bracelets from the 2000s that asked, 'WWJD?' If Jesus Christ led Trinity, would HE have an Autism Awareness Week? Of course not! Why? Because anything that exalts itself above the name of Christ should be brought down. Also, anything that teaches our children to have their identity in anything other than Christ is idolatry and demonic. Let me repeat myself just so I am not quoted out of context: any philosophy, teaching, or program that teaches our precious children that their identity is found in anything other than Christ is idolatry and demonic. Period.  

The world, in its rejection and hatred of Christ, often devises programs such as 'Autism Awareness' (and cultural figures like the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause, etc.) to get the benefits of His teachings (compassion, kindness, feeling love, and self-worth) without acknowledging Jesus as the ultimate authority and the source of all life. These initiatives imply that Jesus alone is insufficient, and we fail to recognize just how deeply they have permeated into our daily lives as Christians. As a result, we have 'a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5).'" 

Gotta appreciate the sort of insane logic that implies Jesus would definitely exclude children who are neurodiverse—and that recognizing people on the spectrum, if for no other reason that to dispel myths and overcome ignorance, is somehow anti-Christian.

Baker also pointed out that the school canceled its Easter egg hunt this year—because that tradition takes focus away from Jesus. I have to assume the Christmas season also lacks joy at that school since anything related to Santa, gifts, secular carols, or lights would be considered blasphemous.

None of this sat well with the parents:

Vanessa Francisco, whose adult son has autism and whose daughter attends the school, called the note "disgraceful, disrespectful and ignorant." She fired back at Baker and asked the school's board of directors to condemn his message.

"That email felt like an unprovoked attack on my family. A slap to the face I never saw coming and from our Pastor of all people," she wrote to school leaders. "How can we continue to allow someone so grossly ignorant to preach to our children, to educate our children in any capacity? His hatred for the autistic and disabled community is so enormously obvious, that I can not stand by and just accept what (Baker) tells me."

Andrea Gallik has two kids at Trinity, including one with autism, but she also said she’ll be pulling them out of the school.

Heather McKay, who had been a staffer at Trinity and who first brought this email to the public’s attention, said on Facebook that her kids (including one with autism) would be “moving to a different private school” next year.

She was also fired after posting that email online… though she “was told it was not due to her sharing the letter.” Uh-huh. Sure… The official explanation offered by the school was that she had a “hostile work history.” But given the sort of buffoons she had to work with, how could anyone not be hostile?

When reporters reached out to Baker for comment, he didn’t back down from his earlier stupidity. He insisted recognizing autism through this initiative was “diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ.” Then he blamed his critics for “misunderstanding” his message… even though they were quoting him directly.

We have recently been going through our school calendar and canceling and reframing activities and events to align with our Christian Worldview. Christmas and Easter activities have also been significantly revised to align with scriptural messages of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We also determined last year no longer to engage in a week of “Autism Awareness,” which was separate from and in addition to the educational programs available at the school for students with unique educational needs. Despite the administrative decision, some teachers decided to promote and run with the initiative this year, even after it was canceled.

My email recently (attached) clarified for our community that the teachings of Christ are more than sufficient for ministering to all our precious children and that there were moral aspects of this initiative that were diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ.

Trinity Christian Academy welcomes all the children whose guardians seek a Biblically-centered, academically excellent primary and secondary education. We support individualized education plans for children with unique needs at the school, and we have on staff at the school and our church caring believers in Jesus with the requisite licensure, training and expertise in assisting children with special needs. The Bible says in Ephesians 5 that we minister to others according to their needs, and we obey the Word of the Lord to do so, always keeping Christ at the head and center of our education programs.

The support in the school community for my emailed message has been overwhelmingly positive, though there appears to be some vocal offense taken, based on a misunderstanding of that message. Our message is simply that Jesus Christ is sufficient for all areas of life, most foundationally, for our identity as individuals created in the image of Almighty God, and we are happy and blessed to take a stand to speak that Truth.

Sincerely,

Matt Baker

Recognizing and celebrating someone’s identity—especially when certain students are mocked or ostracized because of their identity—is incredibly important, now more than ever. It’s critical that we teach kids from a young age that there’s nothing weird about differences. It’s especially important to teach kids how to accept other people who may seem different in their own ways. Awareness isn’t just a buzzword; it’s vital to helping children understand their own peers.

Trinity Christian Academy is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination. Interestingly enough, the website for the denomination has an entire page about autism, reminding everyone, “People frequently fear what they do not know or understand or they simply jump to uninformed conclusions.” Baker must not have seen the memo. (“Awareness” doesn’t seem to be his strong suit.)

This is hardly the first time that a Christian leader has said something like this, though. Last September, Pastor Rick Morrow of Beulah Church in Richland, Missouri said that autism was caused by the devil and prayers alone could heal the developmental disability. Morrow said at the time that he knew he was right because “God doesn't make junk.”

Many parents of kids with autism rejected that theory entirely, telling Morrow their children were blessings and any struggles they faced during development only served to increase their own faith. Morrow eventually resigned from the public school board he sat on, but he remains pastor of the church.

And before him, Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke echoed that thinking in 2022, claiming in a sermon that autism was evidence people weren’t taking demon possession seriously: “Your kid could be demonized and attacked, but your doctor calls it autism.” (His evidence for that claim? "Ain't no such diagnosis in the Bible.")

None of that comports with our scientific understanding of autism, which has been called the “most heritable of neurodevelopmental disorders.” Genetics (not Satan) plays the biggest role in determining whether or not a child will have it. Plenty of people with autism are high-functioning; many are never diagnosed.

Most parents who have raised children with certain neurological or developmental disabilities will tell you that, no matter how difficult it may have been, they wouldn’t trade a thing. Their kids are who they are because of their differences, not in spite of them.

Even Christian parents will say God doesn’t make mistakes. If they have children with autism, it must be for a reason. As one religious parent explained, “My son is not autistic because he is demon possessed; he is autistic so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” They know their kids are gifts, not “mess-ups” whose lives went off-track because of Satan. One pastor put it this way: “Children born with any number of physical, emotional, and learning disabilities have value, dignity, and worth based on their being created in God's image. This is antithetical to the Gospel.”

When Locke made his comments, a number of adults with autism said his kind of thinking harmed them when they were younger. They were subject to exorcisms. They were traumatized because their churches taught them they were responsible for their disorder. They were subject to countless prayers even though there’s no known cure for autism; many parents would tell you there’s nothing that needs to be cured when it comes to kids who are on the spectrum.

And yet Baker is still employed at Trinity. At least for now. That’s partly because the administrators have no clue how to handle this situation. On Friday morning, the district held a meeting for parents… and fully ignored the elephant in the room. There was no mention of the autism comments even though it’s the only thing people wanted to discuss.

When [head of school Anthony] Bryan adjourned the meeting, several people loudly asked "that's it?" before standing up to leave. Groups formed outside as parents and staff members shared their frustration and disgust with Baker's email and the school's handling of the fallout. They said they felt the entire issue was being "swept under the rug."

These days, there’s nothing more Christian than sweeping internal problems under the rug.

Nothing’s going to change unless these parents remove their kids from the school. Or at least pledge not to send them back next fall. There are only 400 students who attend Trinity. If enough of those parents realize their kids deserve a real education—and adults who actually care about their well-being—it could be the punishment this school deserves.

(Portions of this article were published earlier)

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