What About the Separation of Church and State?

Churches and schools involved in church–school partnerships benefit from having a common understanding of separation of church and state issues. As Vanderbilt University's First Amendment Center states, "Public schools and religious institutions have different missions, but they share many of the same civic and moral values. Both are located in most neighborhoods, and each is committed within its own role to the well being of children. By working together in ways that are permissible under the First Amendment, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, schools and religious communities can do much to enhance the mission of public education."

However, this should be done in an environment where churches are, in the words of C.S. Lewis, "doing the work for the work's sake," in other words, serving with no religious agenda, and where schools recognize that such partnerships established without bias are permissible under the Constitution.

For more information, visit the First Amendment Center's website:

www.firstamendmentcenter.org/public-schools-religious-communities