#292 Bible Education During Public School Hours: Why and How Lifewise Academy is Reinstalling Religious Education in the Public School Day with Joel Penton and Ben Ruprecht

Release time religious education of public school students during school hours is, in my opinion, one of the greatest if the not the greatest missed evangelistic and cultural impact opportunities by the church in the last seventy years. That’s a big statement, so here’s why. In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a release time religious program for public school students that was voluntary, off school grounds, and required parental consent. See Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 (1952). I often hear Christians mark the moral decline of the United States by the removal of Bible reading and prayer from the schools, but many of those practices were generic or promoted a more civil religion. And there has been no sustained, national effort over the last seventy years to provide release time Bible education for public school students. Lifewise Academy is changing that, and here’s how. Joel Penton is the Founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, a program that provides Bible education to public school students during school hours. Since its launch in 2019, LifeWise has quickly grown to serve more than 317 schools across the U.S. each week. Nearly 14,000 students attend a LifeWise program and receive a Bible class as part of their public school day. Key Takeaways: The inspirational story of how God called Joel Penton to launch Lifewise Academy. The history of Bible education in American schools. What happened in the 1950s, including Zorach v. Clauson. The nuts and bolts of a Lifewise Academy and how to launch one in your community. The place to start if you are interested in launching a Lifewise Chapter: https://lifewise.org/. A link to Joel’s book, During School Hours. How Lifewise Academy benefits public schools and how administrators and teachers are responding. The post #292 Bible Education During Public School Hours: Why and How Lifewise Academy is Reinstalling Religious Education in the Public School Day with Joel Penton and Ben Ruprecht first appeared on The Good Citizen Project.