September 29, 2023 - WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Senator Lindsey Graham released the following:

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) yesterday introduced a resolution designating October 1-7, 2023 as “Religious Education Week” to celebrate and emphasize the importance of religious education, and the schools and organizations engaged in religious instruction. 

“South Carolina’s children are our greatest resource and future leaders,” said Graham. “I am proud to introduce this resolution to emphasize the importance of continued religious education and the organizations who provide it.”

The resolution is cosponsored by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), James Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi).

This resolution is also supported by Agudath Israel of America, American Association of Christian Schools, Association of Christian Schools International, Catholic Education Partners Inc., Catholic Business Network, Center for Urban Renewal and Education, School Time Bible Ministries, Coalition for Jewish Values, Foundation for American Christian Education, Family Research Council, Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty, National Committee for Religious Freedom, and North American Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

The full text of the resolution is HERE.

Support for Senator Graham’s Religious Education Week resolution:

Grayson Hartgrove, Director of School Time Bible Ministries in Columbia, SC:

“We support and applaud the US Senate effort to pass a US Senate Resolution on Religious Education Week. Parents of public-school students want the option of providing faith-based programming during the public-school day. The legal practice, known as Released Time for Religious Education was started in 1914 by a school superintendent. He knew the importance of parents having options in directing the upbringing of their children. Currently over 13,000 public school students with parental permission in South Carolina leave campus every week for a faith-based class off campus at a church or non-school building. The number of students participating continues to grow as more parents learn of this option.”

Rabbi Lerner, President Emeritus of the Coalition for Jewish Values:

“Judaism places the education of our children at the center of religious practice. We are happy to endorse this resolution, which underscores the intrinsic connection between religious education and the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the Constitution, and celebrates religious schooling as a method of civic and moral development.”
Source: Senator Lindsey Graham