Spontaneous Prayer Meeting at PS ended up with 15 students getting saved. But some folks are not happy about this. I'd love to hear what y'all think. http://www.11alive.com/news/article...a-to-investigate-Lumpkin-Co-HS-prayer-meeting
Not having read it in depth, I think the kids have a right to meet for prayer. BUT they do NOT have the right to miss class. I'm all for them praying before and after school or during lunch. Outside of that, the school has the right to expect them to be in class.
While I think it's awesome that the kids got together to pray, the school definitely has the right to prohibit the kids from missing class in order to do that.
Prayer can happen any time of the day.. You don't have to meet with a group to do it.. I think it's awesome that they had a meeting that lasted this long but to miss class isn't okay.. The video talks about how a teacher is not allowed to pray with a student or even express their religious beliefs. THAT is wrong.. We live in a town where prayer still happens in the schools.. Walk down the hall and you see bible verses on the walls.. We are in the middle of the bible belt though.. Rules at the school is that students have to be the ones to initiate any kind of gathering that has religious merit.. A teacher can be there to oversee it and support the students, but they can NOT innitiate it.. The school is even used for youth rallies and community praise events.. All free of charge..
My immediate thought is the following: How would we react if there was a spontaneous Muslim prayer meeting and several children "converted?" On the other hand, we know that God will save his children - some through family, some through church family, some through evangelism, some through radio broadcasts, some through books, and some even through visions. Yes, he will bring some to himself through public school, which is wonderful. It seems this was a spontaneous thing, which is great. If it was organized and/or supported by the authorities, then beware - because, one day, the shoe may be on the other foot. And I do agree with others about not missing class. Again, how would we react to children of other faiths missing class because of prayer events?
I should add that I'm someone who is very much against prayer in public schools, because it implies we're OK with Christian children in some other countries being forced to participate in religious practices associated with other faiths - and casts those children (and parents who object) as outsiders.
If is was a Muslim prayer meeting, I believe I would not be against it per se. I wouldn't look at it as a victory for spreading the Gospel obviously, but if there is freedom for the Koran, then there should be freedom for the Bible. I have thought about this before. We (Christians) want religious freedom, but not all of us want people of other faith to have the same freedom. Or we at least don't want them to use their freedom.
I am not against prayer in public schools. A large part of me does agree that the staff should not organize such a meeting during school hours. However, I am all for a teacher declaring what faith they are without the details. If they want to help students outside of school hours, then they should be able to do so. Of course, as long as there is no secrecy or impropriety.
When I was in high school, I knew one of the counselors was a Christian. I knew this because we had a big, city-wide evangelistic campaign. One of the trainings was at my church (though people from all over the city from all denominations to it.) I was interpreting it for some Deaf members of our church, and he attended. Later, a good friend had a serious problem, something she really needed adult intervention with. She was also a Christian, so I told her she needed to talk to Mr. J, "because he's a Christian and you can trust him". And I went with her to his office, and introduced her to him. "She's a Christian, and I told her she could trust you, 'cause you're a Christian." To be quite honest, if she hadn't known he was a Christian she probably wouldn't have gone to him, it was that touchy of a problem. So it REALLY DOES matter, knowing what your teachers believe. And they also need to be able to bring that into play when talking with young people, and feel free to pray with them when it's appropriate.
