The crowd at a football halftime show in a Mississippi high school sang the Christian hymn "How Great Thou Art" on Friday night last week in place of the marching band, which was barred from performing the song due to a court order.
A federal court order earlier barred the Rankin County School Board and District Office from including prayers, religious sermons or activities in school sponsored events.
The district decided not to let the Brandon High School band perform the hymn to avoid penalties.
"If we were to perform this show, taking a chance of how it would be perceived by others, and the court deems it is in violation of previous rulings, not only would the Rankin County School District face harsh fines, but also [the school] would be forced to terminate the employment of anyone associated with the decision to perform the show," band director Tim Cagle told The Clarion-Ledger.
The school district said, "The Rankin County School Board and District Office are very saddened students will not be able to perform their halftime show they have worked so hard on this summer."
A student of Northwest Rankin High School filed a lawsuit against the district and school principal in 2013 over Christian assemblies held in the school. The district settled the lawsuit and paid the plaintiff attorney's fees.
Last July, US District Court Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that the district violated the agreement when a Christian reverend delivered a prayer at an awards ceremony and when it assisted in the distribution of Gideon Bibles at an elementary school, both in 2014.
"Defendants are permanently enjoined from including prayer, religious sermons or activities in any school-sponsored event including but not limited to assemblies, graduations, award ceremonies, athletic events and any other school event," according to the order.
When people learned that the band would not play the Christian hymn, they decided to sing it themselves.
During halftime, a lone voice began to sing "How Great Thou Art."
Brittany Mann, who was there, said, "We were just sitting there and then one by one people started to stand," she told me. "At first, it started out as a hum but the sound got louder and louder."
She added, "At that moment I was so proud of my town—coming together and taking a stand for something we believe in. It breaks my heart to see where our country is going—getting farther and farther away from the Christian beliefs that our country was founded on."
A similar incident happened in Laurens County, Georgia, when the Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a letter to the school district last May about a pre-game prayer and the marching band's performance of "How Great Thou Art."
"The opening prayer and religious hymn at the football game were plainly unconstitutional," the group told the school district. "The presentation of prayers at school sporting events violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution."
The school board decided to replace the prayers with a "moment of silence" after consulting a lawyer, according to Fox News and The Courier Herald.
School Superintendent Dr. Juliann Alligood said, "I believe we should follow the law. And the moment of silence probably protects everyone's religious interests. We're doing what we have to do."
She said prayers are part of the Bible Belt community's way of life.
"It wasn't something we were doing belligerently or to thumb our nose at anybody. It had been common practice," she said.
Last Friday when the West Laurens Raiders kicked off the season, the entire stadium led the invocation and recited "The Lord's Prayer."
The marching band instead played "Amazing Grace."
