Steve and Bridget Tennes’ Story

Steve Tennes and his family are committed to living out their faith in every aspect of their lives. That’s plain to see in the way they run Country Mill Farms, whose mission is to show Christ to others by bringing food and fun to their community in Michigan.

But living out that mission became much harder after East Lansing targeted them for their religious beliefs. As committed Catholics, they believe that God ordained marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman. After Steve responded to a question involving his beliefs about marriage on the farm’s Facebook page, city officials locked Country Mill out of the marketplace, banning them from selling their produce at the city’s farmers’ market.

ADF stood with Steve and his farm. After years in the courtroom, a federal judge ruled in Steve’s favor, affirming that the government can’t treat some people worse than others simply because it doesn’t like their religious beliefs.

Meet Steve and Bridget Tennes

Steve Tennes grew up on Country Mill Farms in Charlotte, Michigan, which has been in his family since 1971. His dad used to run the farm, and when Steve was born, his dad named an apple orchard after him. Now the owner of Country Mill with a family of his own, Steve has carried on the tradition of naming apple orchards and blueberry patches after his kids.

Steve and his wife Bridget met through ROTC in college. Steve was at Notre Dame and entered the Marine Corps as an engineering officer, and Bridget was at St. Mary’s and went into the Army as a nurse. Shortly after completing their tours of duty, they moved back to Steve’s home and took over Country Mill.

As the years have gone by, the Tennes family has only grown deeper roots at the farm. As Steve put it, “What I love most about our family farm is that we’re able to have our children involved.” The Tennes kids help drive visitors around the farm on a golf cart, run cash registers, and hand out free samples of doughnuts at the bakery. It truly is a family business.

Beyond his own family, Steve uses his farm to serve the broader community. At the annual Pick a Peck for People, Steve invites people to come pick as many apples as they can, which are then donated to local food banks. One year, they gave away over 10,000 pounds of apples after just four hours of picking. Bridget described her family’s spirit of service, saying, “We need to be stewards of the farm. And what we have, we need to make sure that we give…”

A key way that the Tennes family engages with their local community is through the East Lansing farmers’ market. Not only is the market a source of income for him and his family, but Steve said that it “allows our family to act as ambassadors for Country Mill.” Country Mill was a standout vendor at the market for years—after its first year in attendance, the city invited the farm back annually. In 2016, the city encouraged people to visit the farm and posted “We love the Country Mill!” on its social media account.

But that successful partnership came to a grinding halt when city officials learned about Steve’s religious beliefs.

Banned for their religious beliefs

Steve and his family often open their farm for people to come and enjoy. In the fall, they offer family hayrides and corn mazes. Depending on the season, they invite families to come pick their own apples, blueberries, and peaches. Children tour the farm to learn about where their food comes from, which Bridget says is “really incredible to watch—the kids’ first experience on the farm.”

The Tenneses offer part of the farm as a wedding venue. In fact, Steve sees that as part of his “calling from God for us to serve.”

But in 2014, two women asked Steve if they could use Country Mill Farms for their same-sex wedding ceremony. Steve and his family believe that marriage is a gift from God between one man and one woman. And consistent with that belief, they don’t rent the venue out for same-sex wedding ceremonies. After a short and civil conversation, he referred them to another nearby orchard.

However, two years later, one of the women posted on Facebook that Country Mill’s customers should look elsewhere since Steve declined to host her ceremony. That post led to Steve receiving questions about his faith on Facebook. In response, he explained that, in accordance with his religious beliefs, he would refer any request to perform a same-sex ceremony at Country Mill to another nearby orchard. Reflecting on his decision, Steve explained, “It would have been far easier to take people’s money, but that would not have let us teach our children our beliefs.” Furthermore, “to say ‘we can’t host your ceremony’—that doesn’t mean ‘we don’t love you.’”

Within days, city officials asked Steve to stop attending the East Lansing farmers’ market. The Parks and Recreation Director told him that, because of his post, the city didn’t want Country Mill at the market. He warned Steve that protestors may disrupt the market if the farm did attend. For days afterward, he continued to email and call Steve, urging him not to attend that Sunday’s market because of his post about his religious beliefs.

Despite this pressure, the Tennes family continued to attend the market for the rest of the season. No one protested or made a single complaint to Steve about his Facebook post. Several vendors expressed their support for Country Mill. After briefly pausing hosting any weddings at the farm, Steve decided to continue booking celebrations in accordance with his faith.

The city adopts a policy singling out Country Mill Farms

Before the next year’s season began, the city adopted a new policy designed specifically to exclude Country Mill from the farmers’ market. The new policy required all vendors to comply with the city’s vague “sexual orientation” policy. Even though the farm sits well outside of East Lansing’s jurisdiction, the city attempted to dictate Country Mill’s “general business practice” and override Steve and his family’s beliefs.

Based on the new policy, the city denied Steve’s application to attend the market and sent him a letter explaining that he was not in compliance with its requirements. As evidence, the city attached Steve’s announcement that Country Mill would continue to host weddings but would decline to host same-sex ceremonies.

This decision struck a deep blow to the Tennes family, who felt for the first time that they were being treated as second-class citizens because of their faith. As Bridget put it, “All of a sudden, I felt like we couldn’t even believe what we wanted to believe. We had to be quiet.”

Country Mill Farms stands up for religious freedom

After much discernment, Steve and Bridget decided to make a stand “for our children and for future generations.” In May of 2017, with ADF’s help, Steve sued the city of East Lansing over its unconstitutional policy.

By treating Country Mill Farms worse than other vendors solely because of Steve’s religious beliefs, the city violated the principles that our country was founded on. Country Mill was the only vendor excluded as a result of the new policy. And the only explanation that the city gave for its decision was Steve’s Facebook post explaining that his farm would continue renting out space as a wedding venue consistent with his religious beliefs about marriage.

Kate Anderson, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, explained that Steve’s case was bigger than one farm in Michigan. This case was about “giving the government the power to pick and choose what people can believe.”

Federal judge rules in Steve’s favor

Thankfully, an early ruling in Steve’s favor allowed Country Mill to continue participating in the farmer’s market while the lawsuit proceeded. Then, finally, over six years after his case began, a federal judge ruled that the city had violated Steve’s rights.

When deciding in Steve’s favor, the judge explained that the government cannot single anyone out for worse treatment because of their faith. The city exempted many organizations from its “sexual orientation” policy but gave no reason for failing to respect Steve’s religious freedom. East Lansing violated the First Amendment when it demanded that Steve and Country Mill choose between following their religion or participating in the marketplace. As Steve put it after winning his case, “…no one should be forced… to choose between providing for your family, which we were doing, and living out our faith.”

East Lansing ultimately agreed to pay $825,000, which included both attorneys’ fees and damages, and to respect Steve’s right to do business in accordance with his religious beliefs. The Tennes family was excited to “just keep doing what we’re doing”—serving everyone with joy and thereby spreading the light of Christ.

Steve and his family won their battle. But countless others are facing similar threats to their God-given rights. Will you support ADF to help keep the doors open for the Gospel?