It is a common belief that God is not allowed in the public school classroom. Common—yes. True—a resounding NO! Just ask any Child Evangelism Fellowship® volunteer. In fact, in 2009 almost 139,000 children are heard the Gospel message right in their public school classrooms. Here is how it happened.
In 1996 the interim superintendent of Milford Community School in New York refused to allow Good News Club children to ride the bus to their off-campus meetings, though he continued to allow the Boy Scouts to do so. "Okay," club teacher Steve Fournier decided. "We'll just meet at the school."
But the Good News Club was also denied access to the school, the superintendent calling it "nothing more than religious worship." He rebuffed all Steve's attempts to meet and discuss the problem with him and asked, "Where are you going to get the resources to take this to court?"
Steve says, "What this man didn't count on was the power of God. While I didn't have the resources, God certainly did."
Steve continues, "Little did he know that this decision would pave the way across the nation for the very thing he hoped it would prevent." The Fourniers began a court battle that culminated in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2001 confirming equal access to public schools. In the decision the Court ruled:
- Our free speech rights had been violated because of our religious viewpoint.
- Restrictions must not discriminate against speech based on viewpoint.
- Permitting Good News Club to meet on school premises does not violate the Establishment clause.
- The danger that children would believe the school to be endorsing religion is no greater than the danger that they would perceive hostility towards religion if the club were excluded from this public forum.
The war has been won at the highest court level but smaller battles against our freedom of equal access continue. For each court victory and out-of-court settlement there are countless children who will hear the life-changing message of Christ.
That message continues to go out loud and clear every school year. Just last year there were 3,343 Good News Clubs meeting regularly in over 2,700 public schools. Moises Esteves, vice president, USA Ministries for CEF, says, "Most schools open up to Good News Club without any legal problems. Some schools open up after receiving a letter from our lawyer. A very small number of cases require going to court. The majority of Christians in this country think we can't be in the schools, but we can." Churches all across the USA are partnering with Child Evangelism Fellowship to take advantage of this opportunity to impact the next generation. Your church can impact your community!