The efforts of one Christian mom have prompted a California school district to begin promoting religious freedom among its 26,000 students.
Wendy Kinnear says her heart was broken last year when she heard her first-grade daughter Lauren comment that, of course, she could not pray at her Placentia elementary school because it is a public school.
The concerned parent decided to talk with the principal of her daughter's school to address her apprehension over the possibility Lauren and other children were getting the message that their faith was not welcome at school.
Not long ago, Kinnear attended a Gateways for Better Education event. Gateways is a national organization dedicated to helping public school students and educators gain a better understanding of and appreciation for the value and contributions of Christianity to society.
Through the event, the Christian mom became equipped with several strategies for promoting religious freedom in her daughter's school.
Afterward, Kinnear had an opportunity to address the entire Yorba Linda/Placentia school board with her religious liberty concerns. The response to her talk was subdued and, at first, disheartening. "I went home, and it was pouring rain that day, and I remember crying on the way home, saying, 'Lord, I spoke for You. I did what I was supposed to do, but no one clapped or anything. Why didn't anybody clap for me?'"
The California parent was extremely discouraged, she says, until later when the Lord put it on her heart that the speech was "so powerful and so convincing and so right on that people didn't know what to do. They were just in awe." This revelation was somewhat borne out afterward, when the district responded to the address by encouraging all of its schools to celebrate "Religious Freedom Day."
As a result of the changed, pro-religious freedom atmosphere that she helped to foster in the school district, Kinnear says her daughter is no longer hesitant to pray or express her faith at school. "I've just noticed that we've invited three of her friends from the public school to go to church with us whose families don't go to church," she adds, "so, for a seven-year-old, it's given her more energy, more confidence, more understanding -- which is just beautiful."
Also, due to Kinnear's activism, the principal of Lauren's elementary school has asked faculty members to teach the school's 700 students about their religious freedom. The parent-activist is hopeful that this informal directive will find its way into schools throughout the district.
Gateways for Better Education (http://www.gtbe.org)
© 2005, Agape Press, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission
