Ten Commandments and Prayer in Schools? What About the Home and Church?
April 1, 2025
Carl Williams- Pastor, FBC Demopolis
There are several bills that have been introduced in the Alabama State Legislature addressing issues like prayer and the display of the Ten Commandments in Alabama public schools. HB 231 would mandate that a Christian-based prayer be given at the beginning of each school day. For school boards that do not comply, they could potentially lose 25% of state funding. SB 166 “would require each local board of education and the governing body of each public institution of higher education to display the Ten Commandments and a context statement in a common area of each school under its jurisdiction.”
Beginning in the 1940’s, and more so in the 1960’s, the courts dealt several decisions that halted the practice of sponsored prayer in public schools. For example, The Supreme Court ruled in the 1962 case Engel v. Vitale that school-sponsored prayer violated the First Amendment Establishment Clause. Additionally, the courts have ruled against organized, sponsored reading of Scripture in schools for religious and moral instruction, and the courts have also ruled against public prayers being offered at school events, such as graduations and football games, though many schools continue to do these things, and I applaud them for it (Our local schools included).
It’s a debate that is beyond the space I have to write in this blog, but I believe there has been a gross misunderstanding and misapplication of the First Amendment Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” I do not believe the founding fathers of our nation ever intended for the reading/teaching of scripture and prayer to be absent from our schools. Our nation was founded on the idea that government would not run the church, and would not impede the work of the church. Our nation was indeed founded on Christian principles, and though we have certainly fallen short of those principles time after time, we can certainly acknowledge that the moral and spiritual decline of our nation has accelerated in the past 60 years. Our kids need the Word of God, and need prayer, because they need Jesus. The gospel is still the great hope for sinful people, and the more we run from the Lord as a nation, the more secular and depraved we have become. John Adams, our second president, said “We have no government capable of dealing with an irreligious people.”
Let me be clear- I am ALL IN on having the Ten Commandments posted in schools, and having prayer in school. But as we push for those things, let's make sure the Word of God is being read and put into practice in our homes. Let's make sure we are praying with our kids at home. Let's get off the ball fields, beaches, and golf courses and get our families back in church on Sundays. In 2024, Gallup research indicated that only 30% of adults in the United States attend church regularly. Those numbers drop even more among young people between the ages of 18-29, with only 22% of that age group attending church regularly. Compare this to the mid-1930’s, when 7 out of 10 Americans said they actively participated in the local church.
Ultimately, it all begins at home. What good is it to have a prayer at the beginning of school each day if parents don’t prioritize family prayer in the home. What impact will the reading of scripture have in the schools if the family Bible is closed and just collects dust on the coffee table? The reason young people are not engaged in church when they become adults is because they were never taught the Word of God by their parents, and they did not see their parents living out their faith consistently.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9: "Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates."
If we want prayer and scripture back in our schools, let’s get it into our kids minds and hearts at home and at church. I’m telling you, if our kids are truly changed by the power of the gospel, and they fall in love with Jesus, we won’t have to depend on a teacher to read a few verses of scripture and pray at the beginning of each school day. Our kids will begin praying with each other, and our kids will take their Bibles to school and get in groups with other students and they will want to engage others with the good news of Jesus - not because it is mandatory, but because they are compelled by the Holy Spirit and a love for Jesus that has been instilled in them by parents, pastors, and Sunday School teachers that have faithfully introduced them to Jesus, and consistently modeled what it looks like to follow Him.