{"id":21518,"date":"2024-04-01T13:17:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T17:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=21518"},"modified":"2024-04-01T13:17:38","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T17:17:38","slug":"christian-group-accused-of-luring-students-with-free-pizza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/04\/christian-group-accused-of-luring-students-with-free-pizza","title":{"rendered":"Christian Group Accused of \u201cluring\u201d Students With Free Pizza"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Parents of students at Fresno schools are accusing a Christian group of attempting to \u201cindoctrinate\u201d students after offering free pizza during lunch hour. Three parents of students at Reyburn Intermediate and Clovis East High schools in Fresno have complained about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) offering students free pizza during the school lunch hour if they attended a brief presentation about Christianity. Parents noted that leaders from the FCA would also pray during the presentation. One parent called the presentation \u201cwrong\u201d and accused the group of \u201cluring\u201d students. \u201cThey\u2019re basically luring in kids that are under 18, that are still trying to find themselves and are still trying to explore,\u201d said<\/a> the parent, who asked to remain anonymous. Parents also complained that they were not notified of FCA\u2019s presence during the lunch hour, nor were they given any permission slips in order for their students to attend the club.<\/p>\n

The FCA has often found itself in the crosshairs of controversy. The club was one of the groups that had previously received charitable donations from Chick-Fil-A. Chick-Fil-A was accused of being anti-LGBTQ for donating to the FCA, as the club stands for traditional marriage and against transgender ideology. The controversy led to threats of boycotts against Chick-Fil-A. Chick-Fil-A eventually ended its charitable<\/a> giving to the FCA and Salvation Army in 2019. In 2023, a federal court ruled to reinstate<\/a> the FCA\u2019s right to hold events at a San Jose high school after the high school banned the group for requiring its leaders to agree to the club\u2019s core religious values. The court ruled that the school had treated the FCA to a \u201cdouble standard\u201d and unfairly discriminated against them.<\/p>\n

While parents complained about the FCA\u2019s meeting taking place during school hours, being announced during school-wide announcements, and \u201cusing pizza as a way to get children in,\u201d Clovis Unified\u2019s spokesperson Kelly Avants stated the club was following school guidelines as an affiliated student-led club. The school has over 40 student-led clubs, including a Sikh club and a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). Avants stated that faculty advisors ensure that the clubs follow school rules. Clovis was also criticized last year by LGBTQ+ groups after it canceled using the school to host events by outside groups during school hours (7am to 6pm). LGBTQ+ groups claimed the move was discriminatory after the school failed to approve an LGBTQ+ group\u2019s request to use the school for an \u201cafter school story hour\u201d<\/a> for elementary students. However, the school\u2019s new policy also canceled FCA events and the school states the decision was due to too many club activities crowding out regular student activities during the school day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parents of students at Fresno schools are accusing a Christian group of attempting to \u201cindoctrinate\u201d students after offering free pizza during lunch hour. Three parents of students at Reyburn Intermediate and Clovis East High schools in Fresno have complained about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) offering students free pizza during the school lunch hour…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":21521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChristian Group Accused of \u201cluring\u201d Students With Free Pizza<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Parents of students at Fresno schools are accusing a Christian group of attempting to \u201cindoctrinate\u201d students after offering free pizza during lunch hour.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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