The founder of a Christian organization that provides kids with religious instruction during the public school day is responding to Satanists’ attempts to offer an alternative program to children.
Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy and author of the book, “During School Hours: WHY and HOW LifeWise Academy is Reinstalling Religious Education into the Public School Day,” told CBN News he believes The Satanic Temple’s “Hellion Academy of Independent Learning” (HAIL) being offered to children at an Ohio elementary school is a direct “response” to his LifeWise academy programming.
“The messages that we’re getting from those who are launching the program are somewhat mixed,” Penton said. “At times, they will say this is explicitly an attempt to scare the school board and communities into shutting down all religious programs like ours … Other times, they’ll say, ‘Oh, but you shouldn’t be scared of this because it is going to teach kindness, and values, and that type of thing.'”
From Penton’s perspective, it’s “not super clear exactly what the program is about,” though, like LifeWise, it enables children to leave the premises to take part in The Satanic Temple’s alternative effort.
As CBN News previously reported, HAIL will be offered to children at Edgewood Elementary School in the Marysville School District and is offered at one other location in Pennsylvania.
A representative for The Satanic Temple told CBN News there are programs either pending or launching in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan.
Penton said it appears HAIL is not only a response to LifeWise and other similar programs but that it could also be a “last-minute attempt to stop or delay” Ohio legislation that would “give the right of religious instruction to all families.”
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That legislation, House Bill 8, was recently signed into law and includes a provision that would require public schools in Ohio to have policies that allow for release-time programs. The new policy changes the “may” in current law to “shall,” thus making such guidelines a mandate. Penton, who spoke with CBN News before the law passed, has been a major proponent of its tenets.
Release time — which has been ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court — allows kids to get religious instruction during the school day.
“Kids can receive Bible education during school hours if the program’s off school property, privately funded, and students have parental permission,” he said. “Sadly, this opportunity has been somewhat under the radar for decades.”
Penton said LifeWise Academy provides the tools and resources for communities to be able to launch local release-time programs, offering bussing and resources to kids once those programs launch.
“[It’s usually] one time per week, usually during … a lunch, recess, or library time, or a special time,” he said. “Students can typically jump on the big, red LifeWise bus and head down the street to the church down the road and receive … a Gospel-centered Bible education class right during their public school day.”
Of course, not everyone is enthusiastic about LifeWise’s success.
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And when you see Penton’s numbers, it’s understandable why he’s faced pushback — and why other groups are launching counter cohorts. Plainly stated: the size and scope of LifeWise is increasing monumentally fast.
Penton launched his first two programs in 2019, a year before COVID-19 shut everything down. Then, in 2020, Penton set a five-year goal to reach 25 schools by 2025. But, by 2024, LifeWise had far exceeded that goal and is slated to hit 600 schools across 31 states this year.
One thing that often comes when Satanists, atheists, and other groups create opposing programs is a tendency for some to pull back on all religious instruction, especially in places where release time isn’t mandated. After all, chaos and consternation can create a distraction.
Already, at least two districts have rescinded their release-time policies in Ohio — something that might need to be revisited now that the “shall” language has passed.
Ultimately, Penton sees HAIL and other programs like it as helping push interest in LifeWise.
“It’s hard not to see it somewhat backfiring because, when you’re doing something that is positive, that is building up, that is having a genuine positive impact on the lives of students, and families, and communities — when people shine a bigger light on it — that only goes to serve … the greater good,” he said, noting that, despite challenges that can come, growth always follows. “What we always see afterward is a spike in activity.”
Penton said he’d love to have a conversation with the Satanists and others behind these arguments, stating this hasn’t yet happened.
“We’re always happy to engage in honest conversations,” he said. “What we try to emphasize over and over is that this is an optional program. There are families that do desperately want this for their kids. That’s why you have so many families that actually pull their kids out of public school and do homeschool, they do private school, they do Christian schools.”
He added, “I would say, ‘If you don’t want it for your child, that is fine. But please don’t try to stand in the way of other parents who simply want to sign their children up for a voluntary program.'”
Penton also mentioned the impact of LifeWise programs, which was discerned in research he commissioned. The results showed increased attendance and participation, among other indicators.
Beyond that, Penton said Satanists and others are certainly free to create their own programs — a tough task that requires raising money, organizing volunteers, and other layers of effort.
“We’ll see how that works out with the Satanists,” he said. “I know what it takes to get the bus, I know what it takes to find the volunteers. I know what it takes to raise the money, and all of that. … If another group wants to do the same thing, then we say, ‘Hey, go buy your big, black Satan bus, probably with flames on the side, and you know pull up beside our big, red LifeWise bus, and we’ll see how many kids get on which bus.”
A representative for The Satanic Temple told CBN News in an email it believes LifeWise “exploits the naivety of uninformed school board members and public-school families” and that the program is “disruptive” to the routines of a normal school day.
Furthermore, Satanists believe the effort can leave students feeling isolated or “ostracized” by peers.
“The Hellion Academy of Independent Learning (HAIL) is an alternative to religious organizations that seek to impose their beliefs on public schools funded by federal, state, and local taxpayer dollars that are funded by a diverse community of various beliefs and non-beliefs,” the statement read. “Families that choose not to send their students to LifeWise Academy now have more than one choice for their children during designated release time instruction hours.”
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