The more controversy there is over whether Waterloo Region public schools should be giving out Gideon Bibles, the more requests there are for the free copies, officials say.

Officials at Gideons International in Canada, an evangelical Christian group that has given away millions of Bibles worldwide, say that there has been a “considerable” upswing of requests this year and last, when the controversy was high and attracted media attention.

An estimated 800 to 1,000 copies a year are now being given away to Grade 5 students in Waterloo Region, said Gordon Balfour, chief business officer of the Guelph-based Gideons organization.

That’s about one student out of four that requests the free copy of Gideons’ Little Red Answer Book, which includes the New Testament, plus the Hebrew Bible books of Proverbs and Psalms.

For years, the public school board has agreed to distribute these books for Gideons to the families of any Grade 5 students who indicate that they would like a free copy.

Permission slips are produced by Gideons, and sent home through the schools. The schools then send their numbers to Gideons, which ships the books to the schools. Distribution happens in the schools, although it is supposed to occur outside school hours.

The public board allows any religious group to send religious material to consenting households in this way, although the material must be reviewed by school board officials first to ensure it doesn’t proselytize and doesn’t denigrate groups protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

However, only Gideons uses this opportunity. And school trustees are under increasing pressure from various community and faith groups, including some Christian groups, to stop the 64-year-old practice.

Some critics say it isn’t appropriate for public schools in a multicultural society to distribute religious material. Others say that the book distributed by Gideons contains proselytizing statements and argue that the board is thus violating its own policies.

The Waterloo Region public board recently decided to seek a legal opinion on its policy.

Some school boards have stopped the free distribution, but plenty continue, Balfour said. Last year, Gideons distributed 160,000 free copies of its New Testament to youth across Ontario, including through the schools in Hamilton, Toronto, Grimsby, Newmarket and Orangeville.

That was part of 535,000 Bibles given away across Canada including those left in hotel rooms and at medical facilities.

Balfour said Gideons is already thinking about what to do next year.

“Because of the controversy, we’re considering adjusting the pages” before the New Testament begins, which invite readers to pray while reading and invite Jesus to come into their hearts as their saviour.

“We can pull these out and put less pressure on the trustees,” Balfour said.

The group’s main concern, after all is that “we get the Scripture pages” to the homes of Grade 5 students, he said.

Catholic schools don’t distribute Gideon Bibles. Instead, the school board sends a Bible to the home of every Grade 4 student as part of its official religious education program.