June 12, 2000
Baptists line up on both sides of
Texas football prayer dispute
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___SANTA FE--The battle over high school football prayers in the Galveston suburb of Santa Fe features Baptists on both ends of the playing field--and even some attempting to referee from the middle.
___Although neither of the families who filed suit in the case now under scrutiny by theUnited States Supreme Court are Baptists, many of the other principal players are.
MARIAN WARD, a Baptist minister's daughter, came to national attention last fall for a pre-game prayer she gave in the Galveston suburb of Santa Fe. (Photo by Nicole Fruge/Galveston County Daily News)
___One Mormon family and one Catholic family--neither of which has been identified by name for fear of reprisal--filed a lawsuit against the Santa Fe Independent School District in April 1995 claiming the district violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause by allowing students to give school-sponsored prayers over the public address system at football games. A federal court ruled against the district in December 1996, and the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did the same in February 1999.
___The school district appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which is expected to issue a ruling by the end of June.
___The lawsuit has been supported by individual Baptists in Santa Fe, some of whom say they have been ostracized in the community for their stance, and by the Baptist Joint Committee, a Washington-based religious liberty organization.
___The school district has received widespread support from individual Baptists and churches in the area, who generally favor the tradition of pre-game prayers and want it to continue.
___As the case wound its way through the legal system last fall, Santa Fe's school superintendent said any student who violated the court's ban on pre-game prayer spoken over a public address system would be disciplined.
___Enter Marian Ward, a high school senior and daughter of a Baptist minister, who was scheduled to deliver "inspirational remarks" before Santa Fe's opening game last Sept. 3. Ward's church is not affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___Ward and her parents filed suit against the district, asking that she be allowed to pray before the game. Just hours before the game, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake of Houston granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the district from disciplining Ward if she prayed at the game.
___Ward said she prayed for guidance as she made her way to the stadium's microphone. "I didn't know what I was going to do until I got up there," she said.
___In the pre-game prayer she thanked God for those who had prayed for her throughout the week. She ended the prayer, "in Jesus' name I pray, Amen."
___"This is a battle that needs to be fought," she said later. "I've gotten the opportunity to do it."
___Although those who oppose the football prayer said they have been victimized by threats, Ward said she hadn't received any threats or negative phone calls.
___She questioned those who would make threats against people who disagreed with them: "I think that's sad that people who are calling themselves Christians would do that."
___Likewise, Jeff Bonnin, youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Alta Loma, said he has not seen evidence of Christian students ostracizing or berating opponents of the football prayers.
___"I certainly would not be in support of believers ostracizing other believers just because they disagree," he said. "Personally, I haven't seen any of that. I'm not going to say it didn't happen, but I don't think any of our students were part of that."
___Bonnin said the court case has provided an unusual educational experience for the youth in his church.
___"Our students really took an active role in it," he said. "They really took a stand in the media, which was a new experience for all of us."
___Christian students also have had their horizons broadened by talking with non-Christians about the case, he added, citing specifically an exchange between some of his Baptist teens and a Muslim student.
___One of the points he and other Baptists in the area have tried to emphasize, he said, is that their concern is not just to preserve the right to have a Baptist pray before football games but to keep the microphone open for all people of faith.
___"This is not just a Southern Baptist thing. This is not even just a Christian thing," he said. "This is a ruling that will affect all denominations.
___"If the Supreme Court rules in our favor, there's nothing to say there won't be a Muslim giving a prayer or a non-Christian. That's something to consider. In America, we still have the right to choose.
___"Though we are predominantly a Christian community, we still have the right to choose," he added.
___Ward also said the experience has been good for her. "I think it strengthened my faith," she said, noting it was interesting to see "how God was in every step of the way."
___Amid the conflicting emotions, another Texas Baptist has been working behind thescenes to help school boards and school administrators know how to surf the dangerous waters of church-state relations.
SANTA FE SENIOR Marian Ward, 17, gets support from her parents, Bob and Marjorie, before she delivers an inspirational message before the Crosby vs. Santa Fe football game last fall. (Photo by Nicole Fruge/Galveston County Daily News)
___Rick Ogden, resource development officer for Union Baptist Association and minister of music at Memorial Baptist Church in Houston, serves on the Texas Association of School Boards. This statewide association advises school boards on a variety of matters. Ogden chairs the association's legal committee, which has dealt extensively with issues of school prayer.
___He's also faced the matter up close as president of the Aldine Independent School District.
___It's not been uncommon there for students at commencement exercises, for example, to express thanks to God as part of their speeches. He recently attended seven commencements at the district's high schools.
___"One student said, 'I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the opportunity to address you,'" he recalled. "Three of the four principals made reference to moral integrity and God's laws.
___"We got zero calls," he said, explaining that such references to God simply have not been challenged in his district.
___But he knows that's not the case everywhere else, and as a leader of the Texas Association of School Boards, he wants to help all districts know where to draw the line.
___"The bottom line is whatever the Fifth Circuit Court says is what we must uphold by law. But my heart of hearts wants our students to be able to express themselves."
___One lesson he tries to teach Christian students, teachers and administrators is that being a Christian isn't something a person can turn on and off depending on the circumstances.
___"I believe we are called to be the light and salt where we live, work, learn and play," he said. "How we live before our peers is the true litmus test of who we are. I encourage all Southern Baptist students everywhere to be so engaged in their walk with God that they do not have to make behavior adjustments at any time.
___With additional reporting by Regional Correspondent Ashlee Ross
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