Pastors for NC Children and People of Faith for Public School opposes the expansion of Lifewise Academy across North Carolina. This page will continue to be updated as more resources are available to counter the expansion of Lifewise Academy.  If you have further resources to add to our list or have further questions, contact Director@PastorsForNCchildren.org.

Lifewise Academy is a Bible Curriculum program being brought into schools across the US under “Release Time for Religious Instruction” (RTRI). It is an organization that partners with local churches to pick up children weekly at their schools during the school day, take them to a local church for “Sunday School lessons”, and then return them to school to finish the school day. This program presents many problematic issues particularly related to religious freedom and the separation of church and state. There are questions about the background checks that Lifewise Academy staff undergo, the resources of the school that go to checking out and checking back in students, and the time away from classrooms. There are concerns around students who are “left behind” and left out at the school being peer pressured or coerced into participating. There are also secrecy issues around the curriculum what it includes. It is presented as social emotional learning and Biblical values, but leaves concerns about how it might be providing religious indoctrination and/or a push towards Christian nationalism.