By JOHN KEREZY, eyeoncleveland.com founder

CLEVELAND, July 13  – America’s teens are in crisis. They are facing unprecedented levels of anxiety, aggression, depression, misconduct, and mental health issues (including suicidal ideation).

According to the Center for Disease Control’s “Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Reports, 2013-2023,” in 2023, research shows that

• Four in 10 students (40%) have persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness
• Two in 10 (20%) students have seriously considered attempting suicide, and nearly one in 10 (9%) attempted suicide.

At the same time, many children and youth no longer grow up attending church. “We live at a time when exposure to the Bible and having a Biblical worldview is increasingly rare,” says Robert Kilo, national executive director of School Ministries.

“And it’s increasingly needed.”

Kilo believes there’s an imperative for bringing the Christian ideals and principles upon which the United States was founded into the lives of its school students. The purpose of School Ministries is to utilize constitutionally-backed released time from schools for religious instruction. It’s called Released Time Bible Education, or RTBE for short.

“RTBE can be a life changing experience,” Kilo explains. “It’s voluntary, privately-funded Bible instruction occurring off campus during the school day.  It’s been in practice for more than a hundred years, and as of 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled favorability on its constitutionality.”

Begun in 1991, School Ministries is one of several RTBE non-profit organizations operating to bring Biblical instruction to public school students. It has expanded its operations to 16 states and has a volunteer and staff base of over 3,500 people. This is its website:
www.schoolministries.org

Here are a couple of examples of how RTBE programs have changed lives:

• Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, became transformed as a child due to a School Ministries RTBE program. Here’s the story:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6OLRfFJiOU
• A School Ministries affiliate in Wooster, the Rock, tells a multi-generational Gospel s\tory. One of the participants, a fourth grade girl, came to know Christ through RTBE, decided to be baptized in obedience to the Lord. Her grandfather came, so moved by the Gospel message, he decided to become baptized with his granddaughter. (Link:  https://www.therockwooster.org/ )

“About 70 percent of the students we serve are unchurched, as are their families,” Kilo stresses. “We’re looking to partner with local churches for the purposes of evangelization and discipleship.”

HOW THOSE INTERESTED CAN HELP

Kilo, who served previously with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and  the Center for Christian Virtue, was invited to speak at a School Ministries Ohio conference in Sugar Creek in the spring of 2025. That led later to his selection as the group’s national executive director, and also to the organization’s decision to move its national headquarters from South Carolina to Northeast Ohio (Independence). As one of the 16 states where School Ministries operates, one of the goals is to expand the numbers of students participating in RTBE in Ohio.

But it all begins with prayer.

“Founded in 1991, we’re celebrating 35 years of growing in God’s grace by putting prayer first,” Kilo says. “Prayer is a first response, not a last resort, and should be the first thing we all do every day.”

Kilo initiated a national daily prayer call where School Ministries stakeholders, children, volunteers, staff, and supporters join in prayer. The daily meeting focuses on praying for today’s teens and for helping them overcome the many challenges that they face.

“Prayerfully, with intentionality, we want the transformational power of God’s word to penetrate the hearts of public school children all across America.”

Kilo adds that School Ministries is seeking volunteers as well. 

“We’re currently serving more than 50,000 students a year through 3,500 staff and volunteers,” Kilo says. “There are many volunteer opportunities to serve, either as RTBE instructors or in support of the instructors, both now and in the future.”

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

School Ministries is hoping to have an explosion of program growth, and is endeavoring to reach at least half a million students a year by 2030.

“We have countless stories of people whose lives have been transformed by attending bible education programs, including some former students who’ve given their lives to Jesus Christ and gone on to become pastors and leaders,” Kilo says. “We are praying that, like the loaves and fishes, Jesus would bless this ministry and fill baskets to overflow.”

“We are believing on God for super natural growth,” he adds. “We need to have something like a D-Day mindset to transform the way RTBE impact. There are 51 million souls in the public schools of America. They need to know who created them.”

Kilo points out that School Ministries is not the only RTBE organization in the U.S. “We are endeavoring  to serve as many students in as many communities as God will allow us,” Kilo adds. “If you’re reading this and, the if the Lord might be stirring you to launch a RTBE program in a local community, connect with us.”

“God gets the glory. We tell the story.”

There is an Ohio Conference of School Ministries in Columbus on Friday, August 6. Registration details are just below.

HOW TO REACH SCHOOL MINISTRIES

By phone:   1-800-708-9232
By email: info@schoolministries.org
By mail:
School Ministries Inc.
6801 Brecksville Road, Suite 345
Independence, OH 44131

FOLLOW SCHOOL MINISTRIES

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-ministries/

X (formerly Twitter): @SMI_National

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/schoolministries?igsh=b2NtcDBqYjZmZ2dw

Facebook (Ohio site)  https://www.facebook.com/schoolministriesohioSMOh

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@SchoolMinistries

SOURCES/NOTES

1952 case over New York City school students participating in a RTBE: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/343/306/