Introduction

Church and state relations is a provocative topic in American society. The issue evokes intense emotions. The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This First Amendment provision is designated as the Establishment Clause ("Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion") and Free Exercise Clause ("or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"). A related and, at times, controversial aspect is religion in public schools.

In 2004, I interviewed seven public high school principals from Kentucky. Based on the outcomes of those interviews, I developed a survey instrument to investigate Kentucky public high school principals' expectations for clergy in fostering working relationships between principals and pastors. Fifty-nine out of 199 Kentucky public high school principles who comprise the research population returned completed survey forms -- a return rate of 29 percent. Based on outcomes of perceptions and expectations via the survey, I identified certain research applications in the form of guiding principals for clergy in building working relationships with public school principles. Due to my background in student ministry, I certainly intended to inform relationship building between principals and student ministers.

Chap Clark (2004) and Mark Devries (2004) argue the societal and critical problem in the United States of the abandonment by adults of youth. Their concerns highlight the need for caring and responsible adult presence in the lives of youth. Student ministers' involvement in public schools can serve to redress this need but with the initiative of student ministers and the input of public school leaders to exercise great caution and care in the function and form of their presence on campuses. The guiding principles below seek to inform this process. These guiding principles are derived from the 2004 study of Kentucky public high school principles' expectations for clergy in fostering working relationships between principals and pastors. Some of the principles offered may represent common sense or knowledge to some readers. If so, then the 2004 study provides some empirical support for these perceived common sense principles.   

Prioritize and Practice Open Dialogue with School Principals

Public high school principals demonstrated a desire for dialogue with clergy. Such dialogue with principals requires that the student minister communicate clearly and caringly. Student ministers need to understand school leaders' concerns relative to their presence on campus. The student minister needs to  inform school leaders of his or her intentions and intended levels of involvement and interaction with students openly and honesty.

A good rule for a student minister to follow is always to dialogue with school leaders before interacting with students or before making any change in the level or type of interaction with students. For instance, a youth pastor in a small town has met with the local public high school principal about eating lunch with members of his church's youth group once a week. This youth pastor communicated that his purpose is not to sit and eat with students who are un-churched and speak with them about their need to believe in Christ. Instead, his intention is to sit and eat with members of his youth group. Wwhen having lunch with members of his youth group, they asked him to pray aloud before they ate. At times when this youth minister has eaten with members of his youth group, certain students who are not members of his youth group, unsolicited, have sat at the same table. This youth minister's praying aloud represented a change in conduct from what he and the school principal had discussed. Prior to praying aloud regularly with members of his youth group before eating lunch, the youth pastor needs to follow up with the school principal about this change. It is fundamentally an issue of preserving the principal's trust. Once you loose that trust, you have lost access.