Coach Joe Kennedy Announces Prayer Event Ahead of Return to Field
By Movieguide® Contributor
Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy has invited Americans to join in a national night of prayer as he returns to the field on September 1.
As Movieguide® previously reported, Kennedy was initially inspired by FACING THE GIANTS to pray following his team’s football games.
However, he was removed “from his position in 2015 after silently praying at midfield following the conclusion of his games. Although Kennedy never asked or required students to join him, the school fired him over fears that allowing him to openly pray around students would have been seen as a government endorsement of religion.”
He was reinstated after winning his Supreme Court case last year.
Kennedy expressed his goal for the national night of prayer.
“This is the way it was designed from the beginning,” Kennedy began. “We’re resetting the clock. You’re going to be able to go and have an evening out, go enjoy football, thank your players, your coaches, you educators, just go out there and have a moment of silence or have a moment of prayer or whatever you want to call it…just be thankful for being an American. And let’s exercise those rights. It’s going to feel really good when you do it.”
“I just think it’d be really cool if people across the whole entire nation—everybody in America— have a national night of prayer and have everybody on the football field doing it,” he continued. “I think that would just send a loud, resounding message that, ‘Hey, we’re not being pushed around anymore. We’re going to be able to stand up on our own.’”
To celebrate his return, First Liberty has created the “Take a Knee” campaign to encourage Americans to participate in what they are calling the First Freedom Challenge.
“This is a first simple yet powerful step we can take to restore faith in our schools,” the website states. “God has opened an incredible door for all Americans to express their faith and bring faith back to our communities.”
“We just want everyone to feel like they can exercise these rights. We won the right. We overturned 50 years of Supreme Court precedent that was sort of intimidating everyone into silence, self-censorship, so this is a great opportunity for everybody to exercise their rights and to live out the freedoms that are guaranteed by the Constitution,” Hiram Sasser, a First Freedom Attorney, stated.
First Liberty Institute wrote on X, “Join us on Sept 1st as Coach Kennedy returns to the field. Let’s unite as coaches, players, parents and fans nationwide in a powerful moment of faith. Share a message on social media with these hashtags: #TakeAKneeWithCoach #FirstFreedomChallenge #RestoringFaithInAmerica.”
Join us on Sept 1st as Coach Kennedy returns to the field. Let's unite as coaches, players, parents and fans nationwide in a powerful moment of faith. Share a message on social media with these hashtags:#TakeAKneeWithCoach #FirstFreedomChallenge #RestoringFaithInAmerica pic.twitter.com/DNOZ3LYXWM
— First Liberty Institute (@1stLiberty) August 14, 2023
Movieguide® previously reported on Kennedy:
It started out as an inspiration from the movie FACING THE GIANTS, to pray after his high school team’s football games. Eventually, it led to coach Joe Kennedy winning a Supreme Court case allowing him to continue to do so after the school board tried to shut it down.
“[There’s a] lot of conflicted thoughts and feelings on it. It’s been so long, it’s been seven years going into the eighth football season. So it has been a long time and it seems weird that it’s actually over. But the best part of it is knowing that God stood by me the whole time,” Kennedy told Kirk Cameron on his show TAKEAWAYS.
Kennedy recounts God speaking to him as a new Christian through the movie FACING THE GIANTS, a movie about a high school football coach who uses faith to inspire his team and face his personal struggles.
“I tell you, you don’t get answers from God like that very often. But man, He came down, smacked me in the gut.” Kennedy continues, “I was on my knees, bawling my eyes out and I’m like, ‘I’m in. I will give You the glory after every game, win or lose right there on the battlefield.’”
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
