A Minnesota bakery owner from a multigenerational Christian family is offering an alternative to Pride Month and celebrating the biblical model of family life through special doughnut and coffee sales. Joshua Streblow, owner of Carl’s Bakery in Granite Falls, Minnesota, said the monthlong promotion intends to “celebrate the beauty of God’s design and the beauty of God’s declared word with respect to these designs.”

“We want to see all that God has said is good, true, and beautiful, celebrated in every sphere of life. And that includes our own business, that includes on Main Street in which we live and participate, and the town we have generations of life in,” the bakery owner told The Christian Post.

Historically, Streblow said the core nuclear family has served as the “building block” to “any great society.” “And if we’re going to support families and family growth, family development, we want to see it done in a way that we know is both good and successful, and that goes back to the word of God and how he thinks of those things,” Streblow stated.

Streblow, a husband and father of nine children, comes from a multigenerational Christian family and is also the grandson of a pastor.

“I have been brought up in the faith, and we have brought our children up in the faith,” the Christian business owner said.

Carl’s Bakery announced on Facebook earlier this month that it would offer weekly specials throughout June in celebration of the nuclear family. The bakery’s specials honor a series of relationships, including married couples, parents and children, and grandparents.

“We have made other public statements before as a business, and this is the first time that we coordinated a number of specific specials tied to that,” Streblow told CP. “But not our first time taking a Christian stance in the public sphere through the voice we have as a business.”

Last year, the bakery drew attention for a window mural emphasizing “faith, family, farm-to-table” themes tied to the family-owned bakery and farm operation. Streblow said the display highlighted the role of faith in the family’s business and community involvement.

The bakery also launched a “Make Small Towns Great Again” initiative in 2024, expressing support for rural communities and small-town development. The campaign included the sale of T-shirts and other merchandise.

Carl’s Bakery has received criticism from both within and outside of the local community for its public stances.

In comments reported this month by The Minnesota Star Tribune, Granite Falls resident Melissa Peterson, who serves on the local arts council and volunteers at the Yes! House in downtown Granite Falls, questioned the bakery’s motives.

“The thing that feels the grossest to me is [that] they stir up a bunch of controversy about it and then they announced their merch,” Peterson said. “It feels very grifty.”

Peterson said she “hates the idea” that people in the community might feel ostracized by a celebration of relationships between a man and a woman.

“I don’t have any issues with people’s religious beliefs or values. I believe in free speech, as well,” Peterson said. “I do think where it gets tricky is when you blend your personal beliefs with your business [and] people who feel excluded or different than those particular beliefs and values then need to make a choice about [whether] to patronize this business.”

The Yes! House hosted Granite Falls’ first Pride celebration last year and is scheduled to host the community’s second annual pride event on June 20.

According to Streblow, any merchandise sales are intended to give supporters a way to express agreement with the bakery’s message.

“The merchandising aspect is just a way for people to support what we know they will want to support,” he explained. The business owner also stressed that the “Nuclear Family Month” promotion is not intended to condemn or exclude others, adding that the bakery is not casting explicit judgment on anyone.

Acknowledging that celebrating one thing may imply a preference for it over alternatives, Streblow said the bakery’s focus remains on affirming what it believes is good. “The only time you declare one thing to be good, you’re obviously, by implication, saying other things are not,” he said. “But our point is to celebrate this one thing that we think is very, very good.”

The reactions to the bakery’s promotion have varied, according to the bakery owner.

Most local residents in the rural western Minnesota community, he said, have been supportive of the bakery’s efforts. Even people who disagree with the message have generally remained peaceable and neighborly, Streblow added. “The majority of the response we get locally is very supportive,” Streblow said.

The strongest criticism, he added, has come from outside the community after the bakery’s promotions gained wider attention online.

“We’re blocking numbers from people who are saying they wish we would die, they wish we would be murdered like other people they’ve known in the gay community, they hope our business burns down,” Streblow said. “It’s that kind of thing, just streams of profanity.”

As the monthlong promotion continues, Streblow said he remains mindful of the possibility of organized demonstrations against the bakery.

“This is an extended event for us, so I must say that there is a little trepidation about organized protest efforts against us,” he said. “And that’s kind of TBD, leave that in the Lord’s hands.”

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post.

This article originally appeared in The Christian Post.