In April, Edgewood Church in Walterboro worked with a public middle school across the street to offer a two-hour weekly School Time Bible Education (STBE) class for 6th-graders at the church.
“This is the strongest arm of outreach to children and youth that has been offered in a long time,” said church member Betty Warren, a teacher in the program. “School Time Bible is a great way to reach the children and youth in our community who are not churched and need to hear the word.”
Edgewood Church’s WMU group got the idea for the school ministry from last year’s Janie Chapman Offering materials, which highlighted STBE.
“The program is well outlined and easy to teach, so you just present it,” said Warren, a retired middle- and high-school teacher. Warren said eight of the 12 students involved in the program were unchurched, and one student has visited the church with her family after taking the class.
Since Grayson Hartgrove organized STBE in South Carolina in 1995, there are 7,500 children from 71 schools in 21 South Carolina school districts participating in classes. “It is the best feeling in the world to drive to a public school, pick up a bus load of children, and watch the lights come on as they start to understand God’s plan for their lives,” said Hartgrove. “For many kids, this is the only church they’ll know.”
Three guidelines distinguish STBE as an elective class for public schools: Classes must be held off campus, children must have parents’ permission, and no government funds can be used. The local church owns and operates the program and has access to teacher training and a curriculum kit for the classes.
The South Carolina Baptist Convention partners with STBE to help churches build relationships with local schools, and offers free training and teaching kits.
Visit www.schooltimebible.org or www.scbaptist.org/southcarolina/schoolpartnerships.htm for additional information on STBE or upcoming summer training. – SCBC