Students were told to stop saying Lord’s Prayer at football games. They found another way.

Smiths Station’s routine of reciting the Lord’s Prayer over the stadium’s loudspeaker before each home game has been halted after an unidentified person contacted the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Madison, Wis.

The foundation sent a letter of complaint to Lee County Schools Superintendent James McCoy on Aug. 31, saying in part that it is “illegal for a public school to sponsor religious messages at school athletic events. … The Supreme Court has specifically struck down invocations given over the loudspeaker at public school athletic events, even when student-led.”

The letter refers to the 2000 ruling of Santa Fe Independent School District vs. Doe, which stated that student-led, student-initiated prayer over a public loudspeaker at football games violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

Lee County Schools, which includes the high schools of Smiths Station, Beauregard, Loachapoka and Beulah, responded to the letter through the Huntsville law firm of Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne with a Sept. 11 letter signed by attorney William Sanderson.

Sanderson wrote, “Dr. McCoy has informed his principals that he expects all Lee County Schools to comply with current law with respect to prayer at football games held on Lee County Schools property.”

“The school system was facing litigation that we felt as though would not rule in our favor if we continued with prayer over our public address system,” McCoy said in a statement. “Our response to the demand letter has been slightly delayed due to our conversations with legal counsel and conducting research on this matter. I was simply trying to find a way for our students to continue to do what they have been doing with student-led prayer. Unfortunately, I was not successful in that endeavor.

“It is my job and responsibility as the superintendent and leader of the Lee County School District to uphold the law and defend all rights of all students in Lee County.”

On Friday night, during the customary moment of silence, Smiths Station head coach Adam Fossett said the Central High School student section began reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Smiths Station’s student section then joined in to finish the prayer.

The decision to no longer broadcast the prayer in the stadium quickly has drawn the ire of many in the community, including Mike Green.

Green’s company, Green’s Propane Gas Co., previously had agreed to sponsor the football scoreboard, so he sought to use the sponsorship space to display the Lord’s Prayer. Green started a GoFundMe titled “Our School, Our Right to Pray” before athletic director Sherry Paysinger informed Green he cannot display the prayer in this space.

With the donors’ permissions, Green wants to give the $4,050 raised to the school’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“Only a few hours ago I thought that this was a sad day for this community, but after listening to these young people speak about their faith I will have to say I do not believe it is a sad day after all,” Green posted on the GoFundMe. “These young people are ready to take up the fight.”

Fossett said the attention surrounding the school’s prayer recitation has by no means been a distraction.

“If anything, it’s brought our student body closer together,” Fossett said. “It’s been good to see teenagers come together and stand for what they believe in.”

Green and Paysinger did not return calls from The Ledger-Enquirer seeking comment.

The Smiths Station students are preparing for a new religious observance beginning Oct. 13, when the football team hosts Enterprise. Participants will meet inside the front gate surrounding the football field and line up for a silent, individual 1-minute prayer. They are welcoming any students, parents or community members to take part.

“That’s kind of been the consistent thing,” Fossett said. “The kids are resilient in the fact this is what they believe, what they know and what they want to do.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Students were told to stop saying Lord’s Prayer at football games. They found another way.."