Church at center of Wind River controversy lodges discrimination complaint against Wyoming food bank

Following a viral sermon that has prompted weeks of protest, the Foundations For Nations Church has lodged a federal discrimination complaint. 

Food Bank of Wyoming, the complaint filed Wednesday states, unlawfully cut off a partnership that has for years helped stock the shelves of the church’s food pantry in Riverton on the basis of religious, political and racial discrimination.

Foundations For Nations’ community food pantry had partnered with Food Bank of Wyoming, the Wyoming distribution center for Food Bank of the Rockies, to fill its shelves. Food Bank of the Rockies receives resources from the federal government through multiple U.S. Department of Agriculture programs including the Emergency Food Assistance Program, the Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. As a government agency, the USDA has specific non-discrimination requirements for programs that work with it and a process in place for filing discrimination complaints.

While the Foundations For Nations Church is located on the Wind River Indian Reservation, the pantry itself is located within the city of Riverton. According to Foundations For Nations Pastor Sarah Lucas, Food Bank of Wyoming ended its partnership with Foundations For Nations on July 7, two days after her controversial sermon and told her that it was in response to a call claiming her message was discriminatory.

“Food Bank of Wyoming is our partner to supply food, so we pay money monthly and they come and deliver monthly. They shut us down,” Lucas said.

On July 27, Food Bank of Wyoming confirmed to The Ranger that it had placed its partnership with the Foundations For Nations pantry “on hold.”

In a press release sent Friday afternoon, Florida-based Christian litigation and policy nonprofit Liberty Counsel announced that it had filed a discrimination complaint with the USDA “after a Christian church was unlawfully terminated from a food bank partnership over religious statements made during a worship service.”

The filing alleges that Food Bank of Wyoming terminated its agreement with Foundations For Nations on or around July 7, and that Liberty Counsel believes this termination constitutes discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, political beliefs, and religion. According to the document, Liberty Counsel has also filed a complaint with the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

Lucas said that the pantry feeds about 2,000 people a month, the majority of whom are non-Native. “What I said at my pulpit, which is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, has nothing to do with the pantry,” she said. “And now we’re not getting our food supply.”

In its email response to questions posed by The Ranger and WyoToday Media, Food Bank of Wyoming stated that it was continuing to provide food to those in need in the area. “We have collaborated with the community to ensure immediate availability of food via mobile pantries and continue to engage in conversations around a long-term, community-led resource,” it wrote.

Liberty Counsel sent a letter July 29 to Food Bank of Wyoming contending that the decision to end its partnership with Foundations For Nations constituted religious discrimination and demanding that the food bank reinstate food deliveries by Tuesday, according to Liberty Counsel’s press release.

When this did not happen, Liberty Counsel filed its discrimination complaint on Wednesday.

“By taking sides in a religious dispute, Food Bank of the Rockies and Food Bank of Wyoming are withholding food supplies from the people that they purport to serve over the demand of third parties who disagree with a church’s religious beliefs and teachings. The church’s partnership with the food bank should be reinstated immediately to avoid further constitutional and statutory violations and to resume food deliveries to those who depend on Foundations For Nations’ food pantry ministry for food,” Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver stated.

The sermon

Lucas’ July 5 sermon came on the last day of the Northern Arapaho Sundance ceremony. In her message, the pastor encouraged her congregation to turn away from traditional Native practices and called the tribe’s sacred pipe used for prayer “idol worship.”

“The pipe cannot hear your prayers. It’s just a piece of material, right? And this is a cycle that they’re caught up in, and this is all they’ve ever known,” she said. “And the Lord is saying ‘Tear down the idols, tear down the altars, the idol worship.”

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The church has faced weeks of protests and backlash since. The Northern Arapaho Business Council told church leaders they were no longer welcome on the reservation in a meeting on July 10. But Foundations For Nations has continued to offer Sunday worship services and other programs at its Arapahoe building.

The church’s food bank was temporarily closed immediately after the sermon, but reopened the next week and has continued providing food resources to community members, despite its conflict with Food Bank of Wyoming and Food Bank of the Rockies. It is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-6 p.m.

WyoToday’s Sarah Squires contributed to this report.