The Lord's Prayer Threatened

Manatee County School Board Members are Threatened with a Law Suit if They Continue to Recite the Lord’s Prayer Before Their Meetings!!! 

For more than twenty years, the members of the school board of Manatee County have been praying the Lord’s Prayer before their meetings. The five members who are presently serving profess to be Christians. Recently, a Jewish man who attended one of the meetings with his son became offended when he heard the prayer. When his complaints went unheeded, he contacted the liberal group, The People for the American Way, who acted swiftly in sending two letters threatening to sue the school board if this practice was not stopped immediately. As soon as the word got out, The American Center for Law and Justice and the American Family Association, stepped in to offer their services pro bono. They were willing to use this case as a test case.

The school board’s attorney quickly came up with a number of suggestions that he undoubtedly hoped would ward off the threats. These compromises included the appointment of an outside individual, other than a board member, who would come in and lead the board in a nonsectarian prayer or some other form of “words of wisdom”. Initially, it sounded like the school board members were going to capitulate to the bully’s threats.

At the next board meeting after the news broke out, God’s people gathered in record numbers in righteous protest to this ungodly situation that had arisen. The believers rallied to encourage the Christian board members to stand firm for what was right and just knowing that if Jesus’ prayer to His Father would be censored, it would just be another step down the slippery slope of compromise and moral decline in their community. Fifty-six people initially signed up to speak. Thirty-one ended up going to the podium to voice their concerns and encouragements to the board to stand firm, the others politely nodded their agreement to what had already been said. Clearly in various forms all were united with one message, we cannot back down from this fight - God has called you, the board members, for such a time as this, and His standard must not be compromised.

Three out of the five members – obviously emboldened by the encouragement of God’s people, vowed to do whatever it took to fight. Barbara Harvey (the board chairwoman) and Frank Brunner were moved to tears by the many voices of encouragement. They both openly and unashamedly acknowledged their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and made it clear that they would stand firm. Larry Simmons said that “the line was drawn in the sand” and they could not shrink back from the battle. Frank Brunner gave a powerful speech stating that they were placed in these positions “for such a time as this”! Barbara Harvey also understood the call of God and said that they would win this battle. Immediately, it was clear that the battle was already on as other board members, Harry Kinnan and Walter Miller, along with Superintendent Dearing (who doesn’t have a vote) looked for a compromise. It was obvious that these men did not understand the spiritual battle that was taking place and that once this holy ground was lost, it would be gone forever. This fight will not be easy. The three believers willing to stand need our prayers!!!

August 11 board meeting – The board will have a workshop in which they will hear from various counselors – lawyers etc. to access weigh all options.

August 18 board meeting – The board will make a decision regarding the right to Recite the Lord’s Prayer

On a more personal note: Members of our body showed up to the meeting at a moment’s notice and spoke out in one powerful way – piercing through the kingdom of darkness. The following day, the two local papers printed the most positive articles that we have ever experienced. Although many more spoke at the meeting the following were the quotes that the local newspapers actually printed:

The Bradenton Herald

Eric McGlade, 17, one of the 31 who spoke, said he failed to see how The Lord’s Prayer could be offensive to anyone. “The words, ‘Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven’ are words that have been recited for generations,” McGlade said. 

Palmetto’s Jessica Case came and spoke out of concern for the path the country was heading. “It seems in our country we will accept anything but Jesus and the Bible,” Case said, “People don’t get offended by a palm reader, but if a small child should mention the name of Jesus, someone is offended.”

Josh Turk, 23, told board members that they must stand up to the challenge. “So, we have replaced knowledge of Jesus with condoms, metal detectors and police officer, “ Turk said. “Jesus has been completely removed and rejected in our public school system.”

Linda McGlade, the mother of Eric McGlade, told board members that prayer, the Bible and the Ten Commandments have been removed from public schools. “And look what we have now,” McGlade said, “Moral decline, kids killing kids, metal detectors and security guards.

The Manatee Herald Tribune

Kimberly Gustitus, a student at the University of South Florida, told board members to “stand strong in your faith” and not be bullied by The People for the American Way. “How can you possibly make wise and intelligent decisions without God’s guidance?” she asked.

Religion in schools has been replaced by “condoms, metal detectors, and police,” said Josh Turk-McGlade, who reminded Harvey (the board chairwoman) that she was his elementary school principal. Turk-McGlade’s comments were met with a “Praise the Lord” from Harvey, who gave him a thumbs-up when he finished.

Tom McGlade, who said before the meeting that he organized a group to come in support of prayer, told members that he had been arrested twice handing out religious tracts at Manatee and Palmetto High Schools. McGlade is head of the Sarasota-Bradenton chapter of Operation Save America and has been arrested several times in anti-abortion protests at local clinics.

Please pray for our little community in Bradenton, Florida as we endeavor to push back the gates of hell that continue to erode the moral fabric of our community.