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The Freedom From Religion Foundation has persuaded Michigan’s Fremont Public Schools to end two unconstitutional religious practices after learning that Christian missionaries were recruiting students during lunch and that Gideons International planned to distribute bibles on campus.

A concerned parent reported that, over the last few months, NET Ministries missionaries had been coming to Fremont Middle School twice a week during the lunch hour to talk to students about Christianity. One of the missionaries reportedly told their child that the missionaries were there “to talk about anything you want to talk about, and of course spread the word of God.” The NET (National Evangelization Teams) Ministries website says that Discipleship Teams are the missionaries who “attend school lunches” and that they “focus on evangelistic outreach.” The parent explained that this made their child and other students feel “uncomfortable” and “othered” by the obvious presence of a proselytizing group during the school day.

Additionally, the parent reported that Gideons International sent permission slips home with students to distribute bibles the following week at school. The parent also reported that fliers advertising the on-campus bible distribution were posted around the school. 

“The district cannot offer religious organizations unique access to its schools in order to proselytize, recruit, or distribute religious materials to students,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude wrote to the district.

FFRF noted that granting outside religious organizations special access to students during the school day constitutes unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. Such practices also marginalize students who are nonreligious or members of minority faiths. Research shows that 38 percent of Americans are non-Christian and that 43 percent of Generation Z are nonreligious.

Following FFRF’s letter, Superintendent Brad Reyburn confirmed that both religious groups would no longer be permitted on campus.

“The Gideons did not end up passing out any bibles in the district and will not be allowed to return to Fremont Middle School. This was the first time that they were ever allowed in the district and it won’t happen again,” Reyburn confirmed via email. “The group that came to the lunches was not presented to the administration as this kind of group. They also will not be back to Fremont Middle School.” 

FFRF applauds the district’s prompt action to protect students’ religious freedom. 

“Public schools exist to educate, not to provide outside ministries with a captive audience for evangelism,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The district made the right decision by ending these unconstitutional practices. Students deserve to go through the school day free from religious recruitment and coercion.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With more than 41,000 members, including over 1,100 members in Michigan, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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