Parents and students in Hawaii got some good news this week when a U.S. district court granted a preliminary injunction to Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), providing it equal opportunity to operate its Good News Clubs in the state.
“This is a great victory for Child Evangelism Fellowship, parents, and the students in Hawaii public schools,” said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. “The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities. Child Evangelism Fellowship gives children a safe space that offers moral and character development from a Christian viewpoint. Good News Clubs should be in every public elementary school.”
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According to Liberty Counsel, which represents Child Evangelism Fellowship, before COVID, Good News Clubs, which encourage learning, service, and spiritual growth, operated freely in the state. That all changed during the lockdowns.
“When schools reopened after COVID, some schools across the country refused to allow Good News Clubs back on their campuses — even in schools where CEF had operated clubs prior to the shutdowns,” Mr. Staver recently wrote on the Liberty Counsel website. “This is blatant viewpoint discrimination, and Liberty Counsel is fighting to stop the silencing of Christians and the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
VICTORY! We received a preliminary injunction on behalf of Child Evangelism Fellowship of Hawaii and its Good News Clubs for after school Bible clubs to be given equal access as similarly situated clubs on public school campuses across Hawaii. See more⬇️https://t.co/pGXN8hhXK8
— Liberty Counsel (@libertycounsel) June 28, 2024
Despite submitting numerous applications to host their clubs in several schools over the past three years, CEF was rejected every time by the state’s Department of Education. In fact, some school officials in the state have admitted that the clubs were denied because they are “religious” — a clear violation of religious freedom.
“More than 87 percent of school administrators say the Good News Clubs are a positive experience for their school. Yet sadly, a growing number of anti-Christian school administrators from coast to coast are fighting to keep these Good News Clubs out of their after-school programs,” Mr. Staver said. “We encountered the same thing in Rhode Island, where after the lockdowns, school officials admitted secular groups but denied the Good News Clubs. We sued these schools and won earlier this year.”
In addition to protecting the Good News Clubs from viewpoint discrimination, the injunction also requires school officials in Hawaii “to make timely responses regarding facility-use applications.”
Liberty Counsel filed the lawsuit, Child Evangelism Fellowship of Hawaii, Inc. v. Hawaii State Department of Education, et al., in January of this year. The preliminary injunction should remain in effect until the case is concluded.
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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