Religious Clubs at Public School: Faith or Façade?

There is no shortage of places to practice religion. Across the country, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and many other places of worship give people the freedom to express their faith every day. Families can worship at home, attend services on weekends, and join religious communities throughout the year.

Public schools, however, serve a different purpose. They are meant to educate students, not promote or host religions. In classrooms filled with students from every background and belief, schools should remain places where education comes first, and religion stays personal. After all, religion already has a home, and public schools shouldn’t have to be one.

At Peninsula High School, one effort in particular got students’ attention last school year: The Found Club. Posters advertising meetings, decorated with doodles and promises of free donuts, lined the hallways.

The club caught my eye immediately, as I come from a devout background, and I attended a meeting out of curiosity. I introduced myself to the adult volunteer in the room. When I asked about her connection to the club, she said that she was not a teacher or a parent, but a member of a local church. She explained how her church believed the school would benefit from a Christian club, founded by a national organization.

According to her account, they sought out a student who could establish the club for them, since as outsiders they could not. She also joked that she regularly brings donuts to get students to attend meetings and spoke openly about her involvement in the club’s operations.

Her comments raised some broader questions: Why is organized religion being encouraged in a public school in the first place? Why is an adult from a local church with no connection to the students coming to PHS to transform a public school into another venue for Christianity?

Concerns about religious organizations influencing public schools are not unique to the Found Club. It is not the only well-funded religious organization seeking a presence in public schools.

Peninsula High isn’t the only school in our district facing concerns about the role of religion in public education. LifeWise, a national Christian organization that provides off-campus religious instruction during the school day, has come to Swift Water Elementary and Artondale Elementary schools, taking students out of class for its activities. Perhaps you’ve seen their shuttle bus?

While participation is optional, taking students out of school for religious instruction seems inappropriate and unnecessary. Sundays and other designated times already provide opportunities for families to attend church and worship, so why should religious education interrupt the school day? If religion already has a place outside of school, why should public schools create space for it within the school day?

Public schools exist to educate, not serve as recruiting grounds for outside institutions. The First Amendment protects students’ freedom of religion and their right to express their beliefs, including within a public school. However, protecting religious freedom does not entitle outside organizations to establish a foothold in public schools to recruit new members.

There is an important distinction between students choosing to create a religious club themselves and an outside church infiltrating the school.

If students had independently organized a Christian club, their right to do so would deserve the same protection as any other student-led organization. In this case, however, the club’s origin was an adult member of a local church who wanted a Christian group in the school and helped seek out a student to establish it. Is the school protecting students’ religious expression, or providing a space for an outside religious institution to extend its influence?

This becomes more important when considering the effect certain religious teachings can have on students in minority groups. While Christianity is not inherently synonymous with anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs, some Christian teachings describe being gay or transgender as sinful or morally wrong.

When those ideas are introduced into a school environment, they can do more than express a religious opinion; they can contribute to shame, stigma, and negative perceptions of LGBTQ+ students, and even violence.

A student should not have to wonder whether their classmates, teachers, or the organizations operating within their school believe that their identity makes them less worthy of existence.

There is a time and place for everything, and a public school should not be expected to become another place of worship. The separation of church and state is essential to maintaining an environment where no religion is given authority or preference over another. Students should always be free to practice their faith, but freedom of religion does not mean religion must be present everywhere.

If anything, true inclusivity means creating spaces where people of every faith, or none at all, can exist without feeling like one belief system is elevated above their own.

This is not a personal attack on Christianity or anyone who chooses to practice it. Asking for neutrality is not asking Christians to give up their faith; it is asking for equal treatment. No one is losing their freedom; they are simply not being given a position of preference.

As the saying goes, “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

Camri Clawson graduated from Peninsula High School in 2026.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this column used the word "funded " instead of "founded."