By Bob Allen
Two-thirds of Americans believe public schools should rent to churches and other community groups, according to a new study by LifeWay Research.
The study by the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention publisher LifeWay Christian Resources comes in advance of a Feb. 12 deadline banning the use of New York City schools by churches. The ban, upheld recently by the U.S. Supreme Court, affects about 160 congregations that were using school buildings for worship in the past year.
Sixty-five percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement “public schools should rent to churches and other community groups.” Sixteen percent said schools should rent to other community groups but not churches, and 12 percent said schools should rent facilities to neither churches nor community groups.
With results narrowed to residents of New York State, however, fewer than half (49 percent) supported the idea of churches renting school buildings for worship.
While New York City isn’t the first municipality to ban religious organizations from meeting in public spaces, some observers fear other communities may follow the example as a safeguard against excessive entanglement of church and state.
“Historically schools have been welcoming locations to churches, especially in larger urban centers where schools are in the heart of the communities,” said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. “A trend of banning church use of public schools could have significant implications.”
On Sunday thousands of people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest the school system policy as discrimination against people of faith. A bill that would amend New York’s education law to allow religious groups to use school facilities for worship when school is not in session has passed a committee vote in the state senate.