File photo of firefighters. (credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. (CBS Seattle) — A fire captain was fired for continuing to send out Christian emails from his department account.
The Spokesman-Review reports Spokane Valley Fire Department Capt. Jon Sprague was let go after being told multiple times by department officials to stop sending religious emails.
“It’s not like I can just walk next door and talk to another employee about some of these things,” the 17-year veteran told KAYU-TV. “We have 10 fire stations and three different shifts. The only real way to communicate is that way.”
Sprague ran the Spokane County Christian Firefighter Fellowship and told The Spokesman-Review that he only sent the religious emails to firefighters who wanted them.
“Their content has not violated a single rule of this department,” he told the paper.
Fire department commissioners said it was a tough decision to let Sprague go.
“This certainly doesn’t bring us any pleasure,” Commissioner Kolby Hanson told the paper. “Certainly there’s no joy in doing this.”
Sprague believes God will help him land a job.
“God will provide a job somewhere,” he told The Spokesman-Review. “He always has. If I didn’t trust Him, I wouldn’t have gone this far.”
