LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – LifeWise Academy, an organization that offers Bible education to public school students during the school day, continues to find new opportunities for growth, according to its leader, John Stein.
“We’re getting going here in Kentucky,” Stein said during a recent episode of Leadership Lessons with Kentucky Baptist Convention Executive Director Todd Gray. “It’s a viable option.”
On the podcast, Stein outlined how the program operates and why it has been successful. He emphasized that it is supported by longstanding legal precedent.
“There’s a legal opportunity that was passed in 1952 for this opportunity. It’s called release-time religious instruction that’s all off school property and privately funded and parent-permitted to have this opportunity to reach students in a new way. And we believe that is a viable, powerful option to reintegrate the Bible for public school students as an option. And we’re seeing the fruit of that. It’s a national ministry.”
The model provides a way to reach students who may not be able to make it to something outside school hours.
“Typically, we’re able to reach a whole group of students that might not be going to church that might not be able to go to before school or after programs,” Stein said. “And we can do that with the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we know has the power to save.”
LifeWise partners with public schools to provide voluntary Bible instruction for one hour during the school day. Stein emphasized that nothing is imposed on the schools.
“It really is a collaboration with the schools,” he said. “I think even saying it’s a partnership at times. The public perception can be that the public school is making an official partnership with us. It’s all off school property — it’s privately funded and, at all times, it’s voluntary.”
Some Kentucky school boards have presented logistical challenges, Stein noted, but interest continues to rise. Oldham County, Calloway County, Kenton County and Warren County districts have rejected it.
Launched eight years ago in Columbus, Ohio, LifeWise now operates in 35 states and reaches more than 50,000 students weekly, Stein said.
“Some dear friends of mine were working with the Ohio folks to try to bring LifeWise more to Kentucky because it’s in 50 percent of public schools in Ohio,” Stein said. “And we’re just in our infancy here in Kentucky.”
A 2025 Kentucky law, Senate Bill 19, opened the door for school boards to partner with groups providing religious or ethical instruction.
LifeWise Academy classes meet once a week for about an hour and operate similarly to VBS or Sunday school. Local churches work together to transport students from school to an off-campus location – usually a nearby church or community facility.
“That’s totally up to the local churches of where they want that to be,” Stein said. “It can be a community center. We’ve seen communities get so behind this mission that they have someone donate the house right off the school property line.”
Students return to school after the lesson.
Of Kentucky’s 171 school districts, two — Marshall County and Metcalfe County in western Kentucky — have implemented LifeWise. Approval has been given in McCracken County and Graves County while others are considering the program.
Marshall County, now in its third year, serves six schools. “They have seen wonderful impact there,” Stein said.
First Baptist Church in Benton provides volunteers for the Marshall County program.
Statewide interest continues to grow, Stein said. Thirty-seven districts have established planning teams, and 33 more have begun forming them – meaning roughly 40 percent of Kentucky schools are exploring the program.
The curriculum offers Bible-based character education emphasizing head, heart and hands. One of the central commitments is Gospel-centered teaching.
“We will always tie it back to Jesus, and the Gospel, but we’ll also tie it back to Scripture as a whole,” Stein said. “And then we will assign a character trait to that as an application that week. So, honesty, integrity, compassion — think fruit of the spirit. And that way we’re always having a character trait to assign to that scripture to take that day.”
Stein said schools experience noticeable benefits when LifeWise is implemented.
“The inference that comes from that is behavior is changing,” Stein said. “We know that when you start to get at the heart of kids and (giving) them the love of Jesus and the Gospel and giving them the truth of Scripture this will happen. There are significant changes to the schools. That’s the kind of objective proof (of the program).”
The 1952 Supreme Court ruling that makes the model possible requires that classes occur off school property, the program be privately funded and students participate with parental permission. While release-time programs have traditionally been locally run, LifeWise uses a franchise-style approach with local steering committees.
This article originally appeared in Kentucky Today.
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