Christian Action League’s ‘Student’s Rights in the Public Schools Seminar’ equipping students to share their faith without running afoul of the law
By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League
September 26, 2013
“Come into the school. Fill these hallways with your love and with your grace, God. We need you, God,” prayed Hoover High School student Mackenzie Skiff in Alabama. At the same time, 16-year-old Leon Zellers was playing guitar and singing to the Lord in front of his school in Dover, Pa.
See You at the Pole drew millions of students across North Carolina, the nation and even the world together Wednesday morning to call on their creator for revival in their schools, their cities and beyond.
“#IfThen,” based on 2 Chronicles 7:14 — if we pray, seek, turn; then God hears, forgives, heals — was the theme for See You at the Pole, the centerpiece of Global Student Prayer Week, which challenged students all over the world to find new opportunities, places and times to pray.
“This is a wonderful gathering each year that should serve first as a reminder of what God promises He will do when we humble ourselves and seek his face, and secondly as a perfect example of how students in America still have rights in public schools — freedom of religion, freedom of speech. These freedoms must be put into practice if we’re to keep them,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League.
“We commend each student who showed up a flag pole Wednesday to put God first, and we look forward to what God will do with this obedience. Our hope is that students will make this a beginning of ongoing prayer and worship, not just a one-day event.”
Via the Christian Action League’s “Students Rights in Public Schools” seminars, Dr. Creech has helped equip young people across the state to take the Gospel to their public school peers without running afoul of the law.
“See You at the Pole can be a great kick-off for a student Bible club or prayer group, which are perfectly legal in public schools and granted equal access, meaning they must be treated like any other extra-curricular group,” said Dr. Creech. “The key is, these efforts must be student-initiated and student-led.”
He said See You at the Pole should give young people confidence in their abilities to take Christ to their classmates, sharing their faith between classes or at lunch, passing out Gospel tracts or church invitation cards during non-instructional time, and even finding ways to share their faith via their studies, as long as they keep within assignment parameters.
“Today’s students should remember that See You at the Pole started when teenagers in a small Texas town drove to three different high schools to pray for their friends on a Saturday night in 1990,” Dr. Creech said.
“By that September, the See You at the Pole vision had spread and more than 45,000 gathered in four states to pray. Now, close to 3 million gather across the world. See what God can do with a few obedient young people!”
Dr. Creech said parents and pastors can help with planning and preparation, but events and clubs on campus must be led by students.
Rev. Justin Deeter, pastor at Forest Hills Baptist Church in Wilson, posted photos on his blog of groups of students praying around poles throughout the community, and said area youth pastors visited the schools to pass out free donuts and “encourage our teens as they pray.”
“That’s the role of adults — encouraging and supporting,” Dr. Creech said. “Then when teens step up and follow God’s lead, they are claiming their own freedom of religion and freedom of speech, guaranteed in our Constitution. And when it is their own testimony, that’s when it’s most effective.”
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To find out more about Students Rights in Public Schools, contact the Christian Action League at (919) 787-0606 to schedule a free seminar in your area.