OPINION:
If I asked most Americans if they think the Bible is allowed to be taught as part of a public school day, they would emphatically say “no.” But they would be wrong.
Amazingly, most parents are unaware that there are legal accommodations for spiritual training for their children, including biblical teaching, built into the public school day long ago by our founding fathers.
Subscribe to have the Higher Ground newsletter delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
Gouverneur Morris, a statesman known as the “Penman of the Constitution” and signer of the Constitution, said, “Religion is the only solid basis of good morals, therefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.”
Some may argue that spiritual training is not vital and only belongs in church on Sundays. But, church attendance in America is sadly trending downward with only 20 percent of Americans attending church every week. So kids are not even getting the information. Math and science are great, but they do not address the deep questions children often ask like, “What’s my purpose?” or “What happens after I die?”
Children are mind, body, and soul. And public school curriculum today educates the mind and body, but not the soul. There is a missing piece. Children need to develop spiritual knowledge to not only decipher right from wrong, but to explore a relationship with their Creator, fill them with a higher moral purpose, and seek answers about eternal life. In other words, children need the keys to unlock hope — and that hope is found in the Bible.
The Puritans, who started organized public schooling in colonial America, understood this and used the Bible as the bedrock to teach every lesson to their young students. Bible verses were used to teach the alphabet as early public schools emerged. Biblical morals and values were the compass and a trusted source of truth to complement educational objectives for public school curriculum.
So what happened?
Over the last 200 years, the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause has been called into debate. In the late 1800’s, there was a movement to remove religious instruction from public school curriculum. According to PewResearch.org, in the 1940s, two landmark Supreme Court decisions ruled that the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause applied to states. And a further ruling in 1952, Zorach v. Clauson, determined that students could attend religious instruction during the school day as long as it was held off of public school property. It was called “released time” and it still works today.
How do I know that?
I serve in an organization, Bible2School, that equips parents and grandparents nationwide to teach the Bible DURING the school day, DURING school hours. For over 40 years, we have been impacting thousands of children. We see hope spread in children and their entire families as healthy spiritual growth happens through learning truths found in the Bible.
View this post on Instagram
If you have never heard of “released time” before, you are not alone. When I first heard of it, I thought it was a prison ministry. But I was wrong. “Released time” transfers the responsibility of spiritual training during school hours to the parents and the community legally with three federal stipulations — being held off-site, using no tax dollars, and having parental permission.
Organizations like mine, report that between 50 and 60 percent of the children they pour spiritual training into over the school year have no church home and lack even basic spiritual knowledge.
“Who is God — I’ve never heard of Him?” is a frequent response to the gospel heard among public school children today.
Surprisingly, according to a Children At Risk Commission national report, Hardwired To Connect, children’s brains are primed for spiritual connections. And according to a study done by Utah State University, children do better in school when participating in a religious program on a regular basis. Mental, emotional, and behavioral problems decrease when kids get to know the God who made them, loves them, and has a beautiful plan and purpose for their life through the saving power of Jesus.
So why wouldn’t we be doing this?
The good news is “we are.” The demand for released time Bible programs is rising and so are the number of programs. Our organization alone grew 40 percent in child attendance last year. But more programs are needed. Through educating parents and grandparents on religious rights and equipping communities to start these programs, we can help children unlock hope. It just starts with knowing that the Bible can be — and still is — allowed to be taught in our children’s public school day. And we can make it happen.
–
Kori Pennypacker is the CEO of Bible2School, where she oversees the mission and speaks to businesses, churches, and community leaders on the topic of the importance of spiritual training for children in our communities nationwide. She has over 20 years of experience in children’s ministry and leadership.
Bible2School equips communities across the nation to provide free elective Bible classes to elementary school children DURING their public school day. Their vision is that every public school in the nation would have a dynamic Bible program taught during their school day as allowed by national released time court rulings.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.