USA TODAY International Edition
In Pa., students can go to church during school
YORK, Pa. – It’s 2 p.m. on a Thursday in November — a school day. Right on schedule, 18 elementary school students come running: They’re heading to church.
They’re among more than 3,000 students in Pennsylvania who participate in a “released time” program run by Joy El Ministries.
“Released time” is a legal way for students to voluntarily receive religious education during the school week. It has to happen outside the school building. It’s limited to 36 hours per school year by Pennsylvania law. Students need their parents’ approval. And they need to make up any work they miss.
Joy El’s program started in Franklin County and has grown to 27 school districts in nine counties. It offers programs for students in grades 3 through 8 and is among several organizations that offer released time programs in Pennsylvania. At one elementary school in Fulton County, participation rates among students have been as high as 100%, said Aaron Ziebarth, executive director of Joy El.
The volunteers at Kreutz Creek Elementary School’s program had a more modest crowd as they met in York County that Thursday afternoon. But it’s still a mission of love to them.
“It’s just wonderful to see them memorize God’s word and be excited by it,” said Pay Eyler, who has volunteered with the program at various times over the past 20 years. She said she became a Christian at a similar program in 1951.
Joy El was founded in 1938, back when the Bible was still allowed in school, according to Ziebarth.
Today, that’s not the case. And volunteer Barry Jennings says society has suffered.
At a recent Bible study he attended, the group reflected on the state of the world: “We were talking about things, like Charlottesville ... and then the hurricanes and ... the borders and everything else. I think the main thing is ... God’s trying to show us we need to come back to him.”
Ziebarth tells a similar tale. He sees bad news all around and believes the released time program will point students towards faith: “I just believe that life is hopeless without Jesus.”
Today, over half of the students who attend a Joy El released time program are unchurched, according to Ziebarth. They attend a program with three primary components: singing, teaching and listening — small group time.
Some come primarily to learn. Some follow friends. Some, admittedly, come to get out of school, Ziebarth said.
But regardless of their motives, he said, they’ll benefit from being there — in this life or the next.
Practically, he said, the individualized attention and mentorship help the students academically — the group averages one volunteer for every 2.4 students, he said. And even if that weren’t the case, he thinks the one hour of instruction missed per week is a small price to pay for the religious education the students receive.
“First of all, I have a bigger picture, longer view than just life on Earth. I believe we need to be preparing for what’s beyond. And, of course, released time helps to do that.”