In 2012, investigative journalist Katherine Stewart published The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children.  Her thoroughly well-researched book is a must-read for anyone concerned about public education, church-state separation or religious indoctrination of children. (Please note disclaimer at bottom). Until Stewart’s work, CEF was essentially hiding in plain sight.  Almost no one grasped CEF’s reach, aggression or ambition.  But CEF hasn’t been completely hidden from media attention.  Over the years, there have been numerous (but isolated) newspaper and magazine articles about the Good News Club and/or Child Evangelism Fellowship.  Below are a few of them:

The Good News Club in the News

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• Amanda Ripley, “Saving the 7-Year-Old,” Time Magazine (June 4, 2001). “To sustain interest in the club, leaders use every imaginable child enticement: colorful Jesus dolls, cheery songs and mountains of sugar. The Pleasant Gap session starts with a round of cookies. At another club nearby, kids who answer scriptural questions get pelted with candy fired out of a spring-loaded catapult. Children get $1 in fake money for coming and $2 for bringing a friend. Every few months, they can redeem the ‘money’ for--guess what?--more candy....” • Tim Townsend, “The New After-School Activity: Evangelism, The New York Times (Dec. 15, 2002).  Describes a Good News Club at Memorial Elementary in East Hampton, Connecticut.  A teacher explains, “just like you need a ticket to get into the movies, you also need a ticket to get into heaven.” • Ellen Shiau, “School flier ban may hurt groups,” Gazette.net (Mar. 17, 2004).  Describes Montgomery County Board of Education’s consideration of alteration of “backpack mail” policy in response to CEF’s equal access litigation.  Many nonprofit organizations, including the Maryland Soccer Foundation, describe how policy change will negatively impact their operations. • Cathie L. Fields, “Good News?  Advancing Religion Through Litigation Against the Public Schools,” Forum on Public Policy (2006 vol. 2 no. 2), at 403-441.  Discusses Equal Access Act, multiple equal access cases, and CEF’s “Breaking the Silence” report. • Daniel Golden, “Saving Souls at School,” The Wall Street Journal (May 20, 2006).  Describes Good News Club at Little River Elementary in Durham, North Carolina, led by public school teachers still wearing their employee badges.  One of the teachers tells students that they are “missionaries” and gives them permission slips to distribute to friends. • Clayton Stairs, “Good News Club,” The Georgetown Times (Dec. 9, 2006).  Describes Good News Club at Waccamaw Elementary School in Georgetown, South Carolina.  One GNC teacher tells students that everything their teachers have taught them about evolution is a lie. • Stephen G. Vegh, “After school, it’s time for gum, songs and the Bible,” The Virginian-Pilot (Dec. 25, 2007).  Describes a Good News Club at Georgetown Primary School in Chesapeake, Virginia.  One leader reminds the children: “This is the way you can get candy: if you invite your friends and tell ‘em about the Good News Club.” • Katherine Stewart, “Reading, Writing, and Original Sin: An Evangelical Group Sets its Sights on Santa Barbara’s Public Elementary School Kids,” Santa Barbara Independent (May 7, 2009).  Describes author’s experience and investigation of the Good News Clubs at several Santa Barbara public schools. • Rachel Aviv, “Like I Was Jesus: How to bring a nine-year-old to Christ,” Harper’s (Aug. 2009).  Describes CEF missionary effort in Connecticut housing project. • Katherine Stewart, “How religion is infiltrating public schools,” Reuters (Jan. 25, 2012).  Describes Christian rapper’s evangelistic appeal at New Heights Middle School in Jefferson, South Carolina, peer evangelism, and the Good News Club as part of an underlying trend. • Katherine Stewart, “How Christian fundamentalists plan to teach genocide to schoolchildren,” The Guardian (May 30, 2012).  Describes the Good News Club’s lesson, entitled “Saul’s Disobedience,” on God’s expectation of complete obedience in the context of God’s genocidal imperative to wipe out the Amalekites. • Tim Townsend, “Missionary fellowship put big emphasis on the littlest converts,” The Washington Post (July 10, 2012).  Describes history and recent growth and financials of Child Evangelism Fellowship. • Brent Campbell, “Protests planned at Child Evangelism Fellowship event in Winston-Salem,” MyFox8.com (Mar. 6, 2013).  Pre-protest report on local controversy and March 8 protest of Good News Spectacular in Winston-Salem. • Katherine Stewart, “Do Child Evangelism Clubs Deserve Freedom of Speech in Public Schools?,” The Atlantic (Mar. 12, 2013).  Describes CEF’s simultaneously aggressive and deceptive efforts to evangelize public school children.