England's new initiative to open 500 free schools for underprivileged children has been derided by many critics as a poor decision, but the Church of England sees it as an opportunity to teach children the Christian faith.

The free schools are funded by the government but can be set up and run by charities, parents, trusts, businesses, teachers, or religious groups.

That is why the Church has set its sights on opening some 125 new faith schools across the country during the next four years. The Church currently runs just 10 free schools, but soon that number will rise exponentially with potentially millions of new students.

"This is a moment to be bold and ambitious and offer more than an apologetic for church schools but a vision for education," Bishop Stephen Conway, chair of the Church's board of education at the General Synod in York, said.

A report at the General Synod says the government's free education program was a "unique opportunity for the Church of England to renew and enhance its contribution to the education of our nation's children... an opportunity which should be seized wholeheartedly."

The new schools will be a way for the Church to have a voice in an increasingly secular government, a voice many secular leaders want diminished. 

"The significant changes we're seeing in the country's religion and belief landscape means the Church's role in state education needs to be diminished not expanded," Stephen Evens, campaign director for the National Secular Society, told The Telegraph UK.

Despite the push-back from secular groups, Bishop Conway says the Church vows "to ensure that church schools continue to develop their distinctive Christian character."

CBN News

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

'As Christ Has Done for Us': Family of Teacher Killed in Prank Offers Mercy to Students

Christian Leaders Help Defeat Colorado Attempt to Legalize 'Women as Commodities'

Trump Appoints Erika Kirk to Air Force Academy Board

'America First Always': President Trump Announces New Refinery Being Built in US; First in 50 Years

Pray: Pam Bondi Reportedly Forced onto Military Base as Threats against Trump Officials Grow

Senator Hawley Introduces the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act

Watch This Shock Voter Fraud Video in California; Then Tell Your Senator to Pass the SAVE America Act

Prayer and Action Alert: Senator Thune to Bring SAVE Act to the Senate Floor Next Week

Prayer Alert: Car Ramming and Shooter at Jewish Synagogue in Michigan-Early Report 'No Victims'

President Trump Posts a Couple Christian, Prophetic Videos on His Truth Social Account

Mount Rushmore's Independence Day Fireworks Are Back

Young Families Flock to Red States as Blue States Lose Children, Data Shows

Study: Trans Shooters Commit 'Disproportionate Shares of Mass Public and Active Shooting Attacks'

Karoline Leavitt Busts Democrats' 'Huge Myth' that SAVE America Act Hurts Married Women's Ability to Vote [Video]

Daycares Under Microscope as Prosecutors Stamp Out Fraud after Minnesota Firestorm

The Fate of Iran's National Women's Football Team Took a Deceptive Turn at the Last Minute; What Will Happen to Them?

US Strikes 16 Iranian Mine-Laying Boats Near Strait of Hormuz: Pentagon [Video]

ICE Houston Announces Arrests of over 400 Illegal Immigrants Charged With or Convicted of Child Sex Offenses in 2025

4 Ways Christians Can Pray for the Situation in Iran

New Media Network Combats Anti-American Spin by Featuring Veterans, Law Enforcement