A Christian Education in Public School?

Some parents of children in public school may have dreamed of giving their child a “Christian education,” but budgets and time constraints may have ruled out a Christian school or even home schooling. And of course, we all know you cannot have prayer and Bible study in public school, right?

Not necessarily. School Ministries of Birmingham launched their education program at Spain Park High School last semester with great success, and they are bringing it back this fall, while also having permission to eventually bring the class to Hoover High School as well. The organization is raising funds to expand to other schools, says Erica Faircloth, its executive director and a board member. In fact, they hosted their first fund-raising gala in April, and more are planned.

What makes this Biblical World View class as taught by School Ministries of Birmingham “legal” in public school are three things, Faircloth says:

• Classes must be held off campus.
• The program must be self-funded/funds privately raised.
• Parents must give permission for their child to take the class.

In the case of Spain Park High School, the child must also have an open class period in which they can leave campus to take the class, i.e., be released from school. The course does not replace any core classes but does take the place of an elective, serving as a non-class credit.

Faircloth says these “released time education programs” have been around more than 100 years and have withstood a Supreme Court challenge three different times. In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court said (Zorach v. Clauson 343 U.S. 306) that released-time education is constitutional if it meets the three criteria.

According to the School Ministries website, http://www.schoolministries.org, the program was started in 1914 in Gary, Indiana by a public school superintendent, and is now functioning in at least 32 states, serving an estimated 250,000 students nationwide.

Faircloth was challenged to start the organization here, she says, when a new pastor at her church learned of her after-school Bible class she had taught for several years. The class was a program she put together herself, as her ministry, across the street from Rocky Ridge Elementary and hosted by Lakeside Baptist Church, serving ages K-5. The Bible class grew over the years to about 80 children and served the families once a week in five-week classes.

“My new pastor said if I could do this (my Bible class), I could bring the school ministry to Birmingham,” Faircloth says. After some time of thought, prayer and discussion, a non-profit was begun and incorporated. The organization had to contact every school board, raise funds, find a place for class close by the schools and find teachers and pay for them, Faircloth says. “I prayed ardently about it for two years – but in the fall of 2014, I knew it was time.”

After much interviewing, Faircloth says Yannick Christos-Wahab, a British-born graduate student pursing his Master of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, was hired to teach the Biblical World View class to Spain Park High School seniors and juniors who joined the class. Christos-Wahab taught the inaugural class of seven students.  It’s a start, Faircloth says, and they are already taking applications for this fall in what will be a seventh period Biblical World View course.

“This program is by far the most strategic ministry opportunity I have been involved in,” Christos-Wahab says. “Quite simply, it enables us to teach the Bible in public high schools during school hours to people who otherwise may have little to no contact with the Gospel. I do not believe that there is a more efficient use of the church’s resources than close engagement with kids who are about to go to college and are often unsure about the basics of their faith.”

Long-term plans are to offer the program to other schools in Jefferson and Shelby counties, Faircloth says.

“We want to be an asset to churches in our area, and our hope is that SMB will empower your child to be a witness for Christ in their school and invite their friends to join them in the SMB class,” the SMB website states. “SMB will help students to intellectually understand Christianity and teach students how to apply it to their life.” 

For more information on the program, visit http://www.schoolministriesbham.org.

Carol Muse Evans is publisher and editor of Birmingham Parent.