Every now and then an over eager, over honest individual engaged in the work of evangelizing children in Australian Schools sits down at the keyboard and writes the unvarnished truth.  These moments are both refreshing and sickening.

Refreshing in that dealing with this issue can get pretty discouraging when you come right down to it.  More often than not things are talked about in post modern palaver, the real intentions and meanings are hidden, put at a distance, dishonesty rules.

The sickening truth however is that – we have a system that invites ideologically motivated people to use our schools for recruiting impressionable children, with the “sponsorship of the school system”.  It is about exploiting our schools, disregarding our most basic laws and co-opting the authority of government to advance religion.

The leaders of ACCESS Ministry claim that this is all a beat up by The AGE.

Well the AGE doesn’t write websites like this and exhort people to use the schools as “mission fields” … no these words are the plain unvarnished truth about this system.

The website is here:

http://www.c3victory.org.au/volunteer/build-community/sre/

the text is pasted below, it can’t be summed up any more succinctly:

Special Religious Education (SRE or Scripture)

Picture walking into a classroom full of children who have never heard about Jesus and taking a school-endorsed half hour to tell them all about Him! Scripture provides an excellent opportunity to take the living and active word of God to children throughout our city. As Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, the harvest is ready! Students are hungry and eager to hear God’s word!

NSW is one of the few states in Australia with legislation that supports Scripture. Schools are an open door to the gospel. A Scripture Teacher is not just a teacher, but a government-endorsed evangelist! Scripture also presents an excellent opportunity to connect with schools, children and whole families. We are able to advertise some of our C3 Victory events and connect families with churches because of the open doors that scripture creates.

• Primary school children, those aged 5-12 years are NINE times more likely to accept Christ as their Saviour than people 12 years and above.

• 60 – 80% of all salvation decisions are made by children under the age of 15.

We have some fantastic Primary School Scripture Teachers and High School Board Members already making an impact. However, there are approximately 6,000 Primary School and 6,500 High School students in the schools within 5km of our church building! We need to make the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5). There is still a huge need and many, many classes in Newcastle are without a Scripture teacher. Let’s be faithful with this fantastic open door we have been given (Luke 16:10)! If you feel excited about the opportunities to share influence our city for the Kingdom of God through scripture, there are many different ways that you be involved!

Roles:

Primary School Scripture Teacher

Answer the prayer for more workers in the harvest by becoming a Primary School Scripture Teacher and partnering with us in reaching local children and families with the good news of Jesus. We encourage our teachers to teach close to their home. Please contact us if you are interested so we can link you in to watch a class in a school near you!

Pray

See hearts softened, doors open and lives changed by praying for our Scripture team, the children, their families & the teachers that they connect with each week. A prayer points resource is available so you can pray for specific areas. Contact us if you would like it emailed or posted to you.

High School Scripture Board Member

Get together with like minded people & achieve great things for the Kingdom as a team by representing C3 Victory on a High School Board. High School Scripture Board Members play a vital role in co-ordinating events, facilitating and supporting Scripture Teachers within their school. Currently we have C3 Victory representatives on the Warners Bay, Kotara and Whitebridge boards.

Support High School Board Fundraising events

Ensure High School students continue to hear the gospel by supporting the events run by local High School Scripture Boards. Contact us to receive more details about a variety of fun events that are happening throughout the year including trivia and movie nights!

Practical Support / Administration

Be part of the behind the scenes and help facilitate this exciting work by joining our admin team and contributing to Scripture either from the church office or from home. Hours, days and times are all flexible.

Details:

Becoming a Primary School Scripture Teacher is a surprisingly simple process:

1. Watch some classes in action with one of our C3 Victory Scripture teachers to see what it’s like!

2. Share this class with the teacher, prepare and teach part of the lesson

3. When you feel ready, you can teach your own class! You will be provided with curriculum (a book of lesson plans and activity books for the whole class). Each week you will bring a different message from the Bible to these children.

• Most often, the class teacher stays in the room and will help with class management.

• Our experienced scripture teachers or children’s ministry team are happy to help you with classroom management.

• There are several training opportunities throughout the year & weekly email teaching tips.

• Scripture Team Meetings x 2 per year

• Church Prayer x 2 per year

Teaching options:

• Partner with another teacher, share child minding & teach a class on alternate weeks

• Be a casual teacher who is able to fill in if a regular teacher is not available, so the kids don’t miss out

• Serve another teacher by minding their children so they are free to teach

Key Serving Opportunities:

• Become a Primary Scripture Teacher

• Receive regular prayer updates and pray regularly for the scripture team

• Assist with administration for the scripture team (teaching documentation, email communication re: upcoming training and events etc.)

Contact:

Contact Kate Rigby for more details kate@c3victory.org.au for more details.