Dad calls out evangelicals for handing out Bibles to Hughes Middle School students
LBUSD said neither the district nor school ‘authorized, endorsed, or facilitated the distribution of Bibles,’ but added that the activity is allowed as long as it was on a public street and campus access was not impeded.
Hughes Middle School students, many of them unaccompanied, were greeted by three men handing out Bibles Monday morning.
In a video taken by Michael Farmer, a parent of a 5th-grade student who attends adjacent Longfellow Elementary, three men can be seen passing out Bibles to unaccompanied students.
“The parents I’ve talked to felt very uncomfortable to have strangers there,” Farmer told the Watchdog via text Monday night. “The crazy part is [they were] ignoring the adults and strictly shoving Bibles in the hands of the kids.”
Farmer confronted them, asking why they were "indoctrinating" kids and if they were authorized by the school to be there. Initially, one man said they were. Farmer immediately asked a nearby school staff member, who said they were not authorized by the school but that the activity is allowed as long as they remain on public easements and don’t impede students.
In an email Tuesday, a district spokesperson confirmed the staff member’s assessment of the situation:
“The individuals were not affiliated with LBUSD, and neither the District nor Hughes Middle School authorized, endorsed, or facilitated the distribution of Bibles,” the spokesperson wrote. “Because the individuals were on a public street outside District property, school staff followed established protocols by monitoring the activity and ensuring campus access was not impeded.”
Farmer said the men were “almost forcing” kids to take the Bibles, adding that Sigur told him at least one student went into the office and asked if they had to keep the book. “Of course, they said no,” Farmer said.
In a video posted to TikTok, creator Crowd Source Carrie said Hughes Principal Edward Sigur eventually confronted the men and made them stop, but not before they handed out well over 100 Bibles.
The district declined to confirm or deny Sigur’s involvement.
The men identified themselves as representatives of The Gideons International, an evangelical Protestant group for men known for handing out free Bibles. Founded in 1899, Gideons is the group behind Bibles in hotels and hospitals. According to its website, the organization boasts having “reached over 2.6 billion people with hope of the Gospel.”
“My older son, funny enough, asked, ‘Dad, was that a cult?” Farmer said.
Gideons did not respond to request for comment, including whether it thought it appropriate for its members to distribute Bibles to unaccompanied minors.
Farmer confirmed that the men did not return to the school Tuesday morning.
“A lot of people don’t wanna make scenes in front of their children as well, so they just carried on but did offer disapproving stares at the three men,” Farmer said of Monday’s incident. “The general feeling amongst the community is those men shouldn’t be there.”
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