VICTORY FOR TEACHER SACKED FOR OFFERING PRAYER
Thursday 4 February, 2010
UK
Education
By Charles Gardner
Campaigning lawyers have won a great victory for Christian liberty in the politically correct case of a supply teacher sacked for offering prayer at work.
Olive Jones, a believer from Weston-super-Mare, has been offered the chance to return to her old job after North Somerset Council recognised that it can be appropriate for a tutor to share their faith with a pupil or family, depending on the situation.
Mrs Jones, 54, was dismissed in November after attending a meeting with her employers who had received a complaint from a parent that Olive had shared her faith with a sick pupil and asked her mother if she could pray for her.
Mrs Jones was devastated at the decision, particularly as she was a highly regarded teacher and enjoyed a good relationship with the pupil and her family. She said it was “completely disproportionate” and made her feel as though she had committed a crime.
No formal investigations were undertaken before the meeting to clarify what had happened at the pupil’s home.
But as a result of intervention by the Christian Legal Centre and extensive media coverage, the Council arranged to meet Olive in the New Year. On January 19 Olive attended a meeting where she told the council that she had not been present at a meeting where the family concerned had said they did not wish to discuss faith matters, and that this information had not been relayed to her by colleagues.
Olive therefore had no idea that her offer to pray for the pupil was not wanted by the family and would result in a complaint.
And after hearing that Olive had been unaware of the family’s wishes, the council affirmed that it valued her skills and offered her the opportunity to return to work.
Christian Legal Centre director Andrea Williams said: “We are delighted with this outcome and that Olive Jones has been offered the opportunity to return to her old job. Common sense has prevailed and once again the centre was able to respond to Olive’s situation with legal and media support to ensure that she got a fair hearing. We will continue to support people like Olive, who should never have to face this kind of disproportionate action and discrimination for merely living out their Christian faith.”
This was one of many similar cases of discrimination against Christians in the workplace recently highlighted by the centre.
I confess to having committed a similar ‘crime’ to that for which Olive has been harangued at my own workplace only today. During an enforced break caused by a computer crash, I found myself chatting about ‘religion’ with a freelance journalist who was just helping out for the day. Though clearly up for a debate on the subject, I could tell he was profoundly sceptical about my ‘dogmatic’ faith. After going around in various circles that were clearly leading nowhere, I suggested that if he really wanted to prove to himself that God did or did not exist, he could just try praying to him!
Then, to my shock, I realised he didn’t really understand what I meant by prayer. I said he should ask God to reveal himself to him – if he is really out there. He still seemed puzzled, but I know that many who have done that with sincerity have come to a living faith in the risen Christ.
As we tell young children, prayer is simply talking to God. And it isn’t about how many words we use, as Jesus taught, for our Father knows what we need before we ask him. He doesn’t want us to try to impress him, but simply to cast our dependence upon him as in the phrase, “Give us today our daily bread.”
Jesus later promised: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
And reflecting his teaching, the Apostle Paul writes: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Prayer changes things; and it will change your life!
Anyone wishing to support the Christian Legal Centre in their tremendous work should log onto their website – http://www.christianlegalcentre.com – to find out how they can contribute.
Photo: stock.xchng
Neville Heath Fowler wrote:
You are so right Charles. People sometimes say, “I envy you your faith,” and I wonder in my own mind if they really do, if they really want it, or are they just being patronising, trying to humour me. The apostle Paul rightly says that we are saved by faith in Christ and that even that faith is the gift of God. If it comes only as a gift from God then clearly the obvious thing to do is just to ask Him for it. I am convinced that He gives it to those who ask. And every day we need to ask Him to strengthen the faith we have. And He does. But if we don’t really want it, we won’t ask.
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