The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago has reached a settlement with the Chicago Board of Education affirming its right to employ staff who share and live out its Christian beliefs and mission.

Chicago Public Schools had barred Moody’s elementary education students from participating in its student-teaching programme – a requirement for their degree – unless the college agreed to abandon its faith-based hiring practices. The school district’s Student Teacher Internship Agreement required participating institutions not to discriminate in employment on the basis of religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

For Moody, signing that agreement would have meant compromising a core part of its identity as a Christian institution.

The Alliance Defending Freedom filed a religious discrimination lawsuit on Moody’s behalf in November, 2025. Four months later, the parties settled. CPS modified its agreement to recognise Moody's right to hire in accordance with its beliefs, and Moody is now listed as an approved university partner.

ADF senior counsel Jeremiah Galus said after the settlement that public officials cannot inject themselves into a religious non-profit’s hiring practices, which the constitution and state laws expressly forbid.

The case did not require a court to break new legal ground. The law was already clear. The threat came not from legislation but from bureaucratic policy – the kind of administrative condition that can quietly exclude Christian institutions from public programmes without anyone having to pass a new law or win a court case.

This pattern is familiar to HRLA. In Australia, Christian schools, colleges, and service organisations face a web of regulatory requirements and accreditation conditions that can pressure them to compromise their religious ethos. Without explicitly targeting Christians, these administrative mechanisms can achieve the same effect.

HRLA provides advice and assistance to Christian organisations facing these challenges, helping them understand their legal rights and maintain their mission with integrity.

The Moody settlement is a reminder that when institutions are willing to defend their rights, the law can still protect them – but also that the pressure to conform will keep coming.

It also highlights the importance of good legal advice and lawyers who understand the Christian DNA of religious organisations.