Thought I should write the story . . .
My husband and two young daughters, Brooke and Andrea (and a third on the way, Bethany) were sent by our mission’s organization from suburban southeastern Connecticut to rural upstate New York so that Steve could pastor a church in a small village.
One of the ways we sought to impact our village was to be volunteers with an organization called Good News Club. Good News Club is under the umbrella of Child Evangelism Fellowship, an international organization which seeks to teach morals from a Christian perspective through Bible lessons, music and games.
We would meet once a week at our small country church; the children who had parental permission would be let off the school bus so they could attend the club.
All was well until an interim superintendent decided that he would no longer allow the students who did not normally ride the bus to switch buses for the purpose of attending club – even though that privilege was allowed to the boy scouts who met at another small church in the village.
I submitted a use of building form to request that our small club be allowed to use classroom space after school just as other clubs, such as scouts and 4H were allowed to do.
I believe it was the same day that I submitted the request that I got a call from the president of the school board telling me that my request was denied. I told the school board president that I would pursue legal action and he asked what could we do about it, as were a small church and I told him that was true – but we have a big God.
A lawyer from outside Albany was appointed to us from the Rutherford Institute who would work pro bono. My middle daughter, Andrea, and I were the plaintiffs in the case. We lost in the lower courts – now our only legal victory could be garnered by appealing to the United States Supreme Court. Knowing they are asked to take many cases each year and only take very few in comparison did not discourage us – Steve and I truly believed that just like God gave victory to David to defeat Goliath, God would help us to defeat this Goliath.
The Supreme Court did indeed take the case and we were suddenly in the national spotlight. Many in the media interviewed us and a national television network even went into the school. Now that the case was gaining so much attention we were approached by the president of CEF who wanted us to use one of their attorneys – telling us it would be very bad for CEF if we lost. We decided we needed to continue to place our faith in God and not a more experienced lawyer. We traveled to DC with Brooke and stayed with my aunt and uncle. The newly hired superintendent and one of the social studies teachers were also present to see the case played out in court.
Finally, the decision came on June 11th (referred to as 6 11 by those at CEF headquarters). We won! For us we thought we had finally come to the end of the road on this long trip. It was not so however. Now the superintendent wanted to close the doors to all outside groups to keep our club from meeting. In a dramatic public meeting with, emotions running high, many in the community and even teachers themselves spoke about their thoughts on the matter. Next it would go to the school board. Again people spoke prior to the vote, one very moving speech came from a single mom who begged the board not to close the school to outside groups as she and other single parents would be precluded from being able to have their children be involved in after school activities because of transportation difficulties and that these children had enough adversity and did not need another stumbling block.
In a very close and decision, 4 to 3, the board decided not to close the school to after school clubs. We know that one of the board members, who attended our church, was there for “just a time as this”. Now we had the victory and it was over – but why did we feel that something was left unsettled?
We realized that there were hard feelings in the community and that this was a divisive issue – we did not have peace. We sought God’s wisdom.
We asked to meet with the superintendent and we proposed a release time club – where once a week the children who attend Good News Club would be bused back and forth by the school to a meeting place near the school. He was very open to this and that is what we have been doing since the 1991 definition. This was a win – win for all involved. Not only was there peace between the superintendent and us but also we had taken a step in removing the issue which had caused the community to be divided. The case allows thousands of children across the nation to be able to have the same rights as children who attended other clubs. This will impact this generation of children in a positive way and we pray, for generations to come. We know God’s hand was in this all the way. Thank you for reading our story – The Fournier’s. February 21st 2009
Darleen.
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