Christian school club under fire
WINNIPEG, MB - The chair of the Winnipeg One School Division has asked the Manitoba education minister to consider ending religious instruction, including Christian clubs, at schools.
Lori Johnson says she is worried about the safety of school children after she heard reports that volunteers from Child Evangelism Fellowship were handing out club invitations near elementary schools.
But her fears are based on misinformation, claims CEF Manitoba education director Bev Huff.
"We do not hand out papers to children on streets and we do not condone such actions," says Huff. She is aware of one incident a few years ago where a parent volunteer distributed material on a school ground, but that volunteer was dismissed.
When allegations about adults approaching children arose, Huff checked with everyone involved in the ministry for the past four or five years and learned of no other incident. The school division had no documentation of the alleged incidents, she adds.
CEF, which has operated in Manitoba since 1938, has been holding weekly lunch-hour Discovery Time Bible programs in Manitoba schools since 1971. The lessons are voluntary and children must have signed permission from their parents to enrol.
Telling the truth
Johnson was out of town and could not be reached for comment. But trustee Mario Santos says he believes Huff is telling the truth when she says CEF workers do not approach children at or near school. "I haven't seen any evidence of it," he says. "I take it at face value what the lady said."
The larger issue of whether to provide religious instruction at all is a more complex one. A lawyer, Santos points out that the Public Schools Act states there can be religious activities at lunch or after school if the parents of 25 children request it. If the board were to disallow religious activities at all, there would have to be a change in provincial law.
Growing up in Portugal, Santos says, "we leaned on the churches to provide us with moral guidance." Times are different now, he notes. "As a member of the public school board I also have to understand that school divisions are non-sectarian."
Johnson and other trustees have gone on record saying they do not believe there should be any religious instruction in schools.
But those are individual opinions, says Santos. "The board position is that we have nothing against or for Child Evangelism or any other organization coming around doing similar work."
The school board has asked for a meeting with education minister Drew Caldwell, as well as justice minister Gord Mackintosh, to express concerns about religious instruction and related activities. That meeting is scheduled for October 18. "The [education] minister indicated he wasn't about to change the law unless he got complaints from other places," says Santos.
CEF is also hoping to meet with the education minister in order to clear up the situation.
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