Fans want prayer at football games
Religion Today, August 28, 2000
Prayer may be making a comeback at high school football games.
Prayer before games, a Friday night tradition in the fall, especially in the South, was tackled for a loss in June, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools can’t let students lead stadium crowds in invocations. Doing so would illegally intertwine church and state and leave nonbelievers feeling left out, the court ruled. But as football season kicks off across the country, a grassroots movement among Christians in the South is looking for ways to restore corporate prayer while staying within the law.
Syndicated radio talk-show host Paul Ott, heard in five states across the South, is encouraging “spontaneous” prayer – individuals deciding on their own to join hands and recite the Lord’s Prayer, news reports said. Some groups are distributing flyers urging fans to pray.
A Texas pastor has gotten organized locally. Charles Burchett of First Baptist Church in Kirbyville enlisted 15 local pastors from a number of denominations, as well as volunteers from the fire department, he told Religion Today.
Each pastor will form a prayer circle in the public-access area between the back of the stands and the front fence, where the concession area is located, at Kirbyville High School’s stadium. Exact spots are positioned around the stadium.
Burchett has the prayers timed to the minute so they will not conflict with normal pre-game activities, such as when bands are playing. Five minutes before the prayer starts, volunteer firemen outside of school property will blow the “big horn that sounds like a ship horn,” Burchett said. Pastors have instructed their congregations to “get to your spot” when they hear that, Burchett said.
Pastors will lead those clustered around them, praying for two minutes for the principal, coaches, teachers, and players, Burchett said. Then the fire horn will toot again briefly, and everyone in each of the 15 groups will recite the Lord’s Prayer in unison. People in the stands may also want to join in, he said. Each of the 15 groups will include a local volunteer fireman who makes sure the groups don’t grow so large that people can’t walk past.
Burchett went to great lengths to make sure that no fan would be inconvenienced and that the school administrators would not be put in an awkward position. Everyone will be invited to participate, but no school personnel or equipment will be used, and no one in the band or on the team will be asked to forego their responsibilities in order to pray, he said. “Go the second, third, fourth, and fifth miles to make sure you don’t put your school authorities in any corner or tough position,” Burchett said.
This way, Christians “will be obeying instead of violating the law,” Burchett said. “We will be professing our faith in Jesus instead of protesting decisions of God-established authorities. From our hearts and our mouths we will be blessing instead of cursing.”
The community of each visiting team will be informed about the prayer opportunity through their local congregations and newspaper ads and articles, Burchett said. He said he is convinced that “this idea will work anywhere.”
He can be reached at czburchett@juno.com.
Burchett is known in East Texas for his uncompromising stands against racism. He was in the center of a racial reconciliation effort after the gruesome murder of a black man in 1998.