17-05-2025
Bible education program comes at a cost, group says
May 16—LIMA — A popular offsite Bible class for public school students is restricting class time for students who don't participate, say the founders of the Secular Education Association.
LifeWise Academy, the rapidly expanding Christian group that teaches children about the Bible through public school released-time for religious instruction waivers, is "using the public schools as a mission field," Molly Gaines said during a visit to Lima on Thursday.
She and co-founder Zachary Parrish met with Allen County Democrats Thursday to discuss the evangelical mission behind LifeWise Academy and the influence they say the offsite Bible classes are having on students who don't participate.
Other parents' choices 'affecting my child'
Supporters defend LifeWise as an option for parents who want to incorporate religious instruction into their child's school day without having to enroll in a private school.
Parents like Parrish argue the classes are still harmful because students who don't participate must repeat a class or stay behind in study hall while their peers are gone, so LifeWise students won't miss instructional time.
Parrish started Parents Against LifeWise on Facebook, now known as the Secular Education Association, after learning his young daughter was sitting in study hall while her classmates were at LifeWise. The girl was in second grade.
"When your choices start affecting my child's education, that's a problem," Parrish said.
When Parrish shared his story online, he heard from other parents whose children experienced the same. "There's a lot of bullying, a lot of ostracizing" of students who don't go to LifeWise, he said.
'During school hours'
Van Wert native Joel Penton founded LifeWise Academy after observing the success of Cross Over the Hill, an offsite Bible class for Van Wert schools.
Penton streamlined the model by providing churches and volunteers with ready-made petitions, curriculum, fundraising support and instructions for how to lobby a school board to bring a LifeWise Academy to their local public schools.
He relied on a little-known U.S. Supreme Court ruling that permits public school students to receive offsite religious instruction during the school day, so long as a parent consents and no public funds are used, to teach the Bible "during school hours."
The program is spreading rapidly throughout the country, with LifeWise Academies available to all public schoolchildren in Allen County except Lima.
Rapid expansion in Allen County
Elida became the first district in Allen County to approve the release of students for LifeWise Academy, with the help of Christian broadcast network WTLW in 2020.
The station purchased a bus and a home near the elementary school, which was converted into classrooms for LifeWise use.
The network formed a subsidiary, ACTS Character Academy, to raise money for expenses. It now oversees academies in Allen East, Bath, Columbus Grove, Perry and Spencerville, providing staff and volunteers for each program.
LifeWise programs in Shawnee and Delphos are operated independently of WTLW through the national LifeWise organization.
The group inspired similar released-time programs like Kingdom Harvest Ministries, based in Celina, which is now available to children in Auglaize and Mercer counties.
A moral education
Structure varies from school to school. Students are typically excused during an elective or non-core classes like library, but schools may also use built-in free periods to release students for LifeWise.
Attendance rates here average at 60% for grades 1-6, said Kevin Bowers, president of ACTS Ministries.
Each Bible lesson is tied to a character trait like trustworthiness or honesty, with curriculum provided by the national LifeWise organization based on the Gospel Project.
Bowers said most children do not attend church, but a majority of parents believe their children should receive character education, and most of those parents say the Bible should be the basis for that education, he said.
"We don't apologize for the fact that the Bible is the basis for our program," Bowers said. "Some might call it indoctrination. We call it teaching.
"Children are going to learn morals and ethics from somewhere, and it might as well be the Bible, in our view, because that's not only the foundation of Christian faith, but we believe in the foundation of our Western civilization."
Children ask, 'Why won't you let me do this?'
While the program is voluntary, parents like Parrish and Gaines say children are pressured by their peers to join LifeWise, which they say is contrary to how released-time programs functioned in the past.
Now, children see LifeWise as a "party," Gaines said.
"We have children coming home saying, 'Why won't you let me do this,'" Gaines said. "These are Jewish kids in second grade. They don't understand why they can't go to LifeWise."
The academies brand themselves as inter-denominational Christian character education, but Gaines said the classes are designed to "indoctrinate" and "proselytize to every child" using a "narrow, hateful" interpretation of Christianity.
"It's biblical literalism," she said. "It's evangelical in nature. (Children) are encouraged to proselytize not only to their friends, but to their family."
"To say it's hateful almost doesn't deserve a response," Bowers said.
He added, "It's been a blessing. It's actually helping schools accomplish what they want to accomplish, and that's to build well-rounded individuals that are going to participate in society and make good life decisions."
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