Reports of Student-Teacher-Administrator "Revival Happening" Begin To Leak

eachers and public school district official in Mississippi may have tried to ignore, and then ended up participating in a prayer fest sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that cancelled classes, and saw religious hysteria spread through the student body.

   The outburst of religious zeal took place on April 12, 2000 at Pearl River Central High School is southern Mississippi. Word of the event is only now beginning to percolate through the regular media, but has been a topic on many religious web sites and news services. Participants and supporters describe the prayer fest as the "Pearl River Revival," or the "Pearl River Happening." According to one story carried by Newhouse News Service, "hundreds" of congratulatory e-mails and other communiques have poured into the offices of the school principal, Lolita Lee, who suspended all classes on April 12 following the initial prayer meeting. The program "mushroomed into a daylong, school-wide camp meeting."

   The outburst began when the Christian athletic group conducted a 90-minute program during the last class period prior to the noon lunch break.

   "That in itself was not unusual... Similar arrangements have been made for blood drives or student fund-raisers..." Newhouse writer Bruce Nolan added, "Students who wanted to attend were excused from (regular) class. Lee said about 90 percent of the school's 640 students gathered in the gym to watch a series of skits promoting Christian life."

   At that point, accounts and witness recollections veer off into descriptions of fantasy-filled behavior. A Fellowship of Christian Athletes "Huddle Coach," Judy Mitchell, reported, "You just couldn't believe how wonderful it was that day," as students began to give public "testimony," weep, shout, yell, cry, pray out loud and experience apparent emotional decomposition. Accounts of how many people "found Christ" during the initial hour of the event vary; the local Sun Herald newspaper placed the number at between 15 and 20, and Lolita Lee said that as many as 30 youngsters delivered oral statements about their newfound religiosity.

   A Baptist Press story reported: "What started as a special presentation by the Pearl River Central High School's Fellowship of Christian Athletes turned into a full-fledged revival that has transformed the Mississippi school and left school administrators astounded. 'It was the most incredible thing I've seen in all my years as an educator,' said Pearl River principal Lolita Lee. 'The meeting couldn't be stopped. You could tell something spiritual was happening in the lives of those students...' "

   Indeed, aside from providing worship space and a time slot which conflicted with the regular school program, "Lee did something that she said probably doesn't happen in normal public school settings," noted Baptist Press. "She let the services continue..." The "revival" dragged into the afternoon, as the line of those waiting to "testify" reportedly swelled to nearly 100 public school students.

   "Everybody was crying, hugging and kissing," declared one 14-year-old student.

   An organizer from the Fellowship of Christian Students recalled the heady excitement as the time remaining in the original period drew to an end. "We didn't know what the closing would be, so we left that to God, and He totally took over... God was like, 'This can't end.' "

   The prayer meeting began to "feed on itself," according to the Newhouse news account. Over three hours later, recalled another FCA promoter, the event ended "because the buses came."

   Lee, a member of a local Baptist church, described the event as "heart-stopping."

   "When I realized how many students needed to pray, I went ahead and let the program continue..."

   When the initial 90-minute period leading up the lunch break expired, Lee made a "hastily arranged telephone call" to the school superintendent, and returned to the gymnasium.

   "Who was I to say to these students, 'Hey you aren't important. Go back to class.' "

   The official web site (http://www.prc.k12.ms.us/)sponsored by the school district shows a photograph of the revival event taken from the Picayune Item newspaper. That section of the site is listed as "Fellowship of Christian Athletes," and includes a RealAudio report on the skit, and links to an "Action Alert" put out by the right-wing American Family Association based in Tupelo, Mississippi and operated by Donald Wildmon.

   On May 4 (the National Day of Prayer), the AFA released a statement promoting "A Tribute To School Principal Lolita Lee." It included the Baptist Press story, and urged supporters to "send Ms. Lee a note of appreciation for her godly example of Christian leadership and support of the students."

   Principal Lee defends her cancellation of classes and the entire prayer revival, insisting that the event was "student led and voluntary."

   "If the ACLU wants to come, go ahead, but the most they can make us do is make up a day," she declared. "The students have told us if that's what it means, it's fine by them." She added that "perhaps" two students at the high school who are Jewish have not complained.

   The Pearl River "Revival" raises a number of nagging questions about the separation of church and state, and whether school officials understand -- or choose to enforce -- this important constitutional principle. This is not the first time in recent years that Mississippi schools have run afoul of the First Amendment. In 1996, Lisa Herdahl won her legal fight against the Pontotoc County school system for its policies of broadcasting Christian prayers over a public address system, allowing Bible classes to be taught during regular school hours, and orchestrating "voluntary" prayer session for elementary students in the school gym at the beginning of the class day.

   Herdahl's children were harassed for not participating in organized prayer activities, and threatened that they would go to hell. Even so, prayer supporters organized a "God and Country" rally on the steps of the county courthouse in an event applauded by Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice, and future Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

   Teachers, Principal Lee and the district Superintendent crossed the line -- several times, in fact. It is questionable that a policy which allows regular school periods to be canceled so that youngsters may "voluntarily" trek to sectarian religious events organized by groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes passes constitutional muster. (Would school authorities have permitted a similar activity sponsored by a Muslim, or even atheist group? Would a gym facility have been provided? Probably not...) Supporting the "revival," though, and caught up in the enthusiasm of the event, Ms. Lee decided to not even attempt to have students return to the daily curriculum which the school presumably operates. The public school day, and the gym, had literally been transformed into a religious revival gathering.

   There is the also issue of whether various "guidelines," including those issued by some liberal religious groups or even the federal government, state firmly enough the responsibilities of teachers, principals and other school administrators in not allowing the public education system to be transformed into a church or religious tent meeting. The Newhouse News Service report, for instance (Staten Island Advance, May 25) quoted Charles Haynes, a scholar at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center, as suggesting that the Mississippi event violated the requirement that the state act as a "neutral, honest broker" among various faiths.

   "The First Amendment does not keep religion out of schools," Haynes declared. "But it says religion can come in only in a way that protects the rights of all the kids -- protects them from the government either denigrating or promoting a particular religion."

   Haynes was described as a "a consultant generally regarded as a friend of educators' attempts to integrate faith into school life."

   Guidelines issued by the Department of Education and mainstream/liberal religious groups state that their interpretation of the First Amendment "aids cooperation between schools (and) religious communities," presumably within constitutional boundaries. Is this approach working?

   Maybe not, especially as some schools and their political supporters -- such as Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice -- continually push the envelope on what they describe as "student initiated" prayer. Another problem: what took place in Pearl River High School -- and what has occurred during so-called "student led" outbursts of prayer at football games and other official events in Texas -- is not simply government "denigrating or promoting a particular religion," but also promoting religious belief in general. Had students in the Mississippi school district been given a virtual smorgasbord of religious activities to attend, that would not have lessened the constitutional violation to an appreciable degree, any more than a graduation prayer which claims to be "nonsectarian" and appeal to "all deities" should be worthy of passing constitutional review.

   In the meantime, supporters of the Pearl River "Revival" continue to gush over the event. The photograph in the Picayune Times newspaper shows two members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes" standing next to a poster bearing the words "Jesus is LORD over PRC." The American Family Association broadside suggested that the "spirit of the event (operated) against the interests of Satan's kingdom," and mentioned the tragic events of April, 1999 at Columbine High School.

   One FCA official boasted, "Here a majority of the students come and begin to open their hearts about their need for Christ, some of them how they've found Christ as a personal Savior and how they want to live for Him. Wouldn't it be great if that happened in every school in America?"

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