Pastors create first Bible class for students in Cedar City


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CEDAR CITY — Pastors from several Christian denominations in Cedar City created the first Bible class for students to he held during school hours.

These young Christians now have a release option from school to study the scriptures just as Latter-day Saint students do with their release-time seminary classes. Instead of first-period classes in their high schools, these teens now have the option to study the scriptures at the Cedar Bible Institute, which is located close enough for some students to walk to class.

The idea started with the young students.

"I wanted to strengthen the Christian community here, as well as the kids," said Cedar City High School student Hanan Pruitt. "There’s a lot of stuff holding Christians back, I believe, here. Since I just moved from Vegas, I just wanted everybody to be more together, like we’re here for you. We don’t have to be different churches. We can be a community so that they were more connected and that they weren't afraid, you know, to be who they were."

The 21 students attending the Bible school are either students from Cedar High, Canyon View High or home-schooled. The Christian churches in the city are providing the funding, and the pastors said they feel it's important for these teens to balance their secular studies with their faith every day.

"A lot of us are somewhat distressed about the moral state of our country and other things like that, and so here we have a chance to reverse those trends in ways that we have not had before," said Pastor Gerald Van Iwaarden, Westview Christian Center. “I’m part of the Assembly of God denomination and as we join together here with us Southern Baptist, Foursquare International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Calvary Chapels, and others.

"We are uniquely being able to function in this way in a cooperative manner to be able to do this. And so I send information out talking to other pastors in Utah and the Intermountain West about how they can do this same thing. And it’s a relatively easy thing to do, and I just want to thank the Iron County Board of Education and the school system for being on board with this. That’s been phenomenal.”

Some of the students did not know each other before attending the Cedar Bible Institute, and now they are friends.

“I just think because you’re with a whole group of kids that have the same spiritual belief as you," said Cedar High's Elizabeth Dempsey. "You get a great lesson from each pastor that you have, and you just feel such a connection with God and the Holy Spirit and you feel so spiritual after you leave. We can come here, unite as high schoolers, and have that ability to share our beliefs and study the Bible together. And that's just an amazing experience to me."

The Cedar City pastors and ministers said they have created a model in Cedar City that the churches in other communities can use very easily to offer the same opportunity to their young people.

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Carole Mikita

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