There's currently a controversy involving the Moline-Coal Valley School District (Illinois), which is allowing an "After School Satan Club" to meet on-campus after the class day ends. The district's explanation in an official news release states, in part: "The district does not discriminate against any groups who wish to rent our facilities, including religious-affiliated groups. Religiously affiliated groups are among those allowed to rent our facilities for a fee. The district has, in the past, approved these types of groups, one example being the Good News Club, which is an after-school child evangelism fellowship group. Flyers and promotional materials for these types of groups are approved for lobby posting or display only, and not for mass distribution ... Please note that the district must provide equal access to all groups and that students need parental permission to attend any after-school event. Our focus remains on student safety and student achievement." (KWQC-TV)
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), an international ministry that sponsors Good News Clubs in thousands of schools, believes the Illinois controversy is not truly being caused by Satanists, but rather by activists who have found that the Satan Club approach creates tension and might lead to disapproval of the Good News Club outreaches.
Here's what CEF states, in part:
Here's how the ploy works: Atheists go to a school where there is a Good News Club and insist the school send permission slips home with children for Satan Club. They admittedly have no intention of teaching children about Satan but want to raise hysteria in hopes of shutting down religious clubs.
CEF Communications representative Lydia Kaiser says, "The Satan Club organizers say one of their primary tenets is to stand against 'bigotry' and 'hate.' It's ironic that a charge of bigotry and hate is being leveled by an organization that is trying to shut down another's freedom to tell children that God loves them and they have inherent dignity and value.
"Restricting any optional club activities is a loss to First Amendment liberties and penalizes children who need wholesome, extra-curricular activities. CEF encourages school boards to not be intimidated, to not restrict any clubs, and to let the parents decide what their children attend. Clubs with good programming will flourish and those without good programming will not. The CDC recently reported the suicide rate among children climbed steeply in the last decade and now we have mental health issues as a result of COVID. Youth are in deep trouble and need the grounding that faith gives them."
CEF trains volunteer teachers from area churches to lead Good News Clubs, and some schoolteachers also participate. A 2004 Circuit Court ruling prevented schools from disallowing teacher participation as that is also a prohibition of their freedom of speech and religion.
Pre-COVID restrictions, CEF had over 6,000 after-school Good News Clubs in the USA with almost 5,000 clubs located on school property. A survey of those principals found they saw positive changes in children's behavior as a result of the character traits the clubs taught.
Child Evangelism Fellowship is an international, nonprofit, Christian ministry teaching the Bible to children since 1937. CEF has 400 offices in the USA and is organized in most nations of the world, with over 3,500 paid staff and hundreds of thousands of volunteers. In its last ministry year, CEF ministered to over 16 million children in its face-to-face teaching ministries."
