Local pastor cancels private school’s Autism Awareness Week, calls it ‘demonic’

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – A private school’s lead pastor canceled Autism Awareness Week, calling the recognition of the disability “demonic” in an email sent out to parents.

Florida’s Voice spoke with Andrea Gallik, who has two children that attend Trinity Christian Academy in Palm Beach County.

Gallik’s kindergarten son has Level 2 Autism Spectrum Disorder and she said after receiving Pastor Matt Baker’s email, her “heart stopped beating.”

“As far as I’ve known, the school has been wonderful with him,” Gallik said. “And so this take on it was really upsetting. It really, truly broke my heart to be a parent of a child with autism.”

WPTV reported Baker’s email, which read the following:

“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).'” 

Trinity Christian Academy’s Lead Pastor Matt Baker

Gallik said she feels like the pastor “didn’t understand what the acceptance and awareness week was truly meant to do.”

“It’s not just so my son can feel special,” Gallik said. “It’s also to teach other young students maybe don’t be nervous or scared around autistic kids. And if we teach them a little more, then they’re going to have a gracious heart towards them. And instead of dealing out of fear, they’ll be able to say, ‘oh, well, I learned this,’ and they’ll have a heart to show, you know, kids with autism grace.”

She said her kids will finish up the school year and will “not be returning” to the private school.

Gallik said a teacher’s aide at the school, Heather McKay, who also has an autistic son that attends the private school, was fired after sharing Baker’s email.

Florida’s Voice reached out to McKay for a comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

Gallik said her son was aware that the school would not be recognizing Autism Awareness Week and the six year-old boy said he “thinks he doesn’t belong in his school now.”

The mother said she told her son “that’s not it,” and they will celebrate him in other ways.

Gallik said her and her husband attended the parent teacher fellowship meeting last week in hopes that the pastor would “want to speak to anyone that was bothered by the email,” but she has not heard anything from him.

She said her message to Baker is that she asks he “rethinks and reframes his ideas on being proud to be autistic.”

“He said that he thought we were like placing the autism over Christianity, none of the parents there feel that way. None of us were trying to do that. We just wanted to show acceptance,” Gallik said.

She said she believes the church and the diagnosis of autism “can coexist with grace and peace and love” and her family is praying for the pastor. She clarified she is “not coming from a place of anger,” but her family is “just really hurt” by the pastor’s words and decision.

Florida’s Voice reached out to the school’s lead pastor for a comment, but did not receive an immediate response.