Half of Etna Road Elementary School's fifth-grade class abandoned their work for the library after a morning lecture on multiplying fractions. The other half put on their coats, lined up, and boarded a red bus with “LifeWise Academy” on it, wearing matching red T-shirts. The bus youngsters sang Jesus praise as their classmates read books.
An Ohio-based nonprofit that seeks to return God to public schools has made 30 minutes of prayer, Bible reading, and worship music a regular part of the students' week at a half-mile-away church.LifeWise Academy follows two obscure, decades-old U.S. laws. Supreme Court rulings enabling off-campus religious education during school hours.
LifeWise launched in 2018 with the goal of servicing 25 schools by 2025, but it has beyond that. LifeWise had chapters in over 300 schools in 12 states by the start of this year, teaching 35,000 public school children weekly Bible studies during lunch or noncore classes like library, art, or gym. Conservative leaders in the current culture battle over LGBTQ inclusion, sexually explicit library material, and American racism support LifeWise. But it's spreading in progressive suburbs and deep-blue Columbus, Ohio.
LifeWise founder and former Ohio State Buckeyes defensive lineman Joel Penton stated, “A lot of parents want to be able to say to their child, ‘Yeah, you're going to get science class, math class, English class — and you're going to have Bible class, too, because this is important to us as a family Busing non-Christian youngsters to local churches, where they sometimes get candy, has made some parents and protesters think LifeWise is excluding or forcing them to go.
Demrie Alonzo, an English tutor at many central Ohio LifeWise schools, said, “Whether it's happening on campus or not, this program is bringing religion into the school.” “It's unfair to multi-religious kids.” LifeWise is accused by some parents and others of using schools to attract children into an evangelical spiritual tradition that overwhelmingly votes Republican, at a time when conservatives oppose leftist indoctrination.
Opponents have also documented teachers and administrators pushing LifeWise to students by allowing LifeWise volunteers to visit classes, conducting schoolwide assemblies, or advertising the program in parent mail, which some legal experts feel violates the First Amendment.
Penton said LifeWise's five-year Bible program follows all laws and local rules and avoids politics. He said LifeWise has “very broad support” from diverse political groups. Last summer, far-right Christian cellular company Patriot Mobile supported LifeWise's nationwide teacher meeting. It has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on school board candidates who claim to fight LGBTQ acceptance.
Penton appeared on the Truth and Liberty Live Call-in Show in December, a nonprofit that promotes conservative Christian ideas across seven public life “mountains” like media, government, and education to change America. On the podcast, Penton said the referendum last year enshrining abortion rights in Ohio's constitution made him “incredibly sad.” It also made him understand LifeWise's mission “is all the more important.”
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