SALINE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Saline Area Schools cancelled a fifth grade field trip to a camp in Hillsdale after parents complained it championed Christian values, according to parents who talked to Michigan News Source.

In the past, the district held a field trip to Michindoh, which is part of Spring Arbor University. Michindoh’s website states,
“Michindoh is truly blessed and we want to share that blessing with you! Join us for an amazing camp experience of wild adventures and great community combined with both personal and spiritual development. Michindoh staff and programming are committed to creating a fun and safe camp environment where kids can experience the love of God through every aspect of our programming and where everyone finds a place to belong.”

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Camp Michindoh and Saline Area Schools didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

One Saline parent put in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the school district and shared emails received in that request with Michigan News Source.

In the response, the school district redacted the name of a parent who complained about the camp.

The email stated, “What you can easily find on their website, however, is that they are an evangelical Christian organization that is exclusionary in nature (‘Marriage between one man and one woman is the instruction of Scripture and sexual expression is to be confined to the marriage relationship.’)”

The email from the parent protesting continued: “Our district is choosing to make a financial investment in an organization that evangelises viewpoints that directly exclude some of the families and children in our school community. This means that these families (and others who care for and respect all types of families, like myself) are being asked to make a pretty awful choice: We can either give money to an organization that promotes ideas and values that conflict deeply with our own so that our children can participate in this special school-sponsored activity, or we can choose to keep them home. I feel strongly that none of our families should have to make a financial choice that sacrifices their fundamental values, in order for their children to participate in school activities.”