海角大神

Lawmakers in more than a dozen states have proposed legislation to allow spiritual chaplains in public schools, a move that proponents say will ease a youth mental health crisis, bolster staff retention, and offer spiritual care to students who can鈥檛 afford or access religious schools.

Conservatives also argue religious foundations will act as a 鈥渞escue mission鈥� for what they say are public schools鈥� declining values, a topic that has galvanized Republican-controlled legislatures to fight for issues such as parental oversight of curriculum, restrictions on books, and instruction on gender identity and state-funded tuition assistance for private and religious schools.

But many chaplains and interfaith organizations oppose the chaplaincy campaign, calling the motivation offensive and describing the dangers of introducing a position of authority to children without clear standards or boundaries.

鈥淭hey are going to be engaging students, sometimes when they鈥檙e at their most vulnerable, and there鈥檚 not going to be any checks on whether they鈥檙e able to proselytize, what they鈥檙e able to say to kids grappling with really difficult issues,鈥� said Maureen O鈥橪eary, organizing director at Interfaith Alliance.聽

The organization has shared concerns with lawmakers and school boards, saying schools should be 鈥渘eutral spaces where students can come as their full selves,鈥� Ms. O鈥橪eary said.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a matter of being pro- religion and anti-religion,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a matter of the appropriate role of religion as it applies to public schools.鈥�

Texas kicks off a national campaign

Texas became the first state to allow school chaplains under a law passed in 2023.

The National School Chaplain Association, which identifies itself as a 海角大神 chaplain ministry, says on its website it was 鈥渋nstrumental鈥� in spearheading the Texas law. The organization is a subsidiary of Mission Generation, which was established in 1999 to bring Jesus to classrooms worldwide. In a December 2023 newsletter, NSCA celebrated Texas for starting a 鈥渘ational movement placing God back in public education.鈥�

NSCA chaplains 鈥渄eliver holistic care, guidance, and safety to all people, all the time regardless of their personal beliefs, or non-beliefs鈥� and the organization鈥檚 statement of faith is typical of endorsing bodies, an association representative said in an email.

After the bill passed, dozens of Texas chaplains representing different faiths and denominations collectively wrote to school boards, warning the law doesn鈥檛 require that 鈥渃haplains refrain from proselytizing while at schools or that they serve students from different religious backgrounds.鈥�

The law ordered more than 1,200 school districts to decide by March 1 whether they would allow chaplains as employees or volunteers. Many of the largest opted out.

Houston and Austin said volunteers鈥� roles and responsibilities were unchanged so a volunteer wouldn鈥檛 be providing chaplain services. Dallas鈥� school board said chaplains should not be employees or volunteers at this time.

In the meantime, varying school chaplain bills have been introduced in many Southern and Midwestern states, with mixed success.

A school chaplain bill passed both chambers of the Florida Legislature and awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥檚 signature. School policy must describe the services of a volunteer chaplain and require parental consent.

Indiana鈥檚 proposal, which passed one chamber but failed in the other, specified chaplains would provide secular services unless students and parents consent to nonsecular services. Some lawmakers questioned where that line would be drawn and how a student would know.

In Utah, Rep. Keven Stratton told his colleagues recent Supreme Court decisions on religious freedom provide an opportunity for school chaplains and a return to the tradition of acknowledging God in public institutions.

John Johnson, his counterpart in the Utah Senate, where the proposal ultimately failed without full GOP support, said he observed an 鈥渙utright disdain for religious principles within our schools鈥� during committee meetings. He said that would have consequences such as more families choosing alternatives to public school.

鈥淚t would be helpful and much easier if my colleagues would take our efforts here not as an attack but as a rescue mission,鈥� he said on the Senate floor.

Increasingly, proposals from then-President Donald Trump to state governing bodies have intended to crack the firewall between church and public schools, an effort that civil liberties groups say undermines equal treatment of all faiths and threatens religious minorities.

Public schools have been barred from leading students in classroom prayer since 1962, when the Supreme Court ruled it was a violation of the First Amendment clause forbidding the establishment of a government religion.

The Supreme Court case brought by a coach fired for praying on the field addressed the balance between the religious and free speech rights of teachers and staff and the rights of students not to feel coerced into religious practices. The decision to back a praying football coach aligned with a series of rulings in favor of religious plaintiffs.

Concept of chaplains is 鈥榲ery gray鈥�

Chaplains, traditionally a clergyperson ministering outside of a congregation, have long served in the U.S. But the modern role is 鈥渧ery gray,鈥� said Wendy Cadge, director of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, in that it鈥檚 not uniform or universally understood.

Chaplains serve in the U.S. Congress, military, and correctional facilities, and each has rigorous requirements for hiring and service. Hospitals, police and fire departments, colleges, and private companies also hire chaplains with wide-ranging standards.

Many chaplains have seminary or ministry training in and the endorsement of a particular faith. But chaplains serving in multicultural places also may be required to bring professional, supervised training called clinical pastoral education.

Major hospitals are especially likely to employ chaplains with, and offer training in, clinical pastoral education.

Patients and their families are regularly experiencing existential crises and are vulnerable, said Eric Johnson, director of spiritual care at UnityPoint Health鈥檚 Des Moines-area hospitals.

The training helps chaplains learn how to serve untethered to their faith so 鈥渢ransference or reactivity doesn鈥檛 get in the way of really attending to people鈥檚 needs,鈥� Mr. Johnson said.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.