For seven years, Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy had been quietly walking to the 50-yard line after every game. He would go to one knee and offer a quiet prayer of thanksgiving for his players and the game. No show, no fanfare. Just him and his Master.
Then in 2015, someone complained because players and students took notice and decided on their own to join him as he prayed. Because of one disgruntled observer, the school ordered Coach Kennedy to stop the practice. When he refused, the school fired him.
In 2022, The Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v Bremerton that personal expressions of faith cannot be censored. As a result, a U.S. district court ordered the school to reinstate Coach Kennedy and restore him to his former position.
This Friday, on September 1, Coach Joe Kennedy is returning to the field to take a knee in prayer, and it’s our prayer that coaches, players, parents, and fans all over the country will join him.
The First Freedom Challenge is an awareness campaign designed by Coach Kennedy’s attorneys at First Liberty to educate Americans about their rights and to encourage them to use them.
For this to happen, we need your help to spread the word and to let people know that we can restore faith in our communities as part of the “Take a Knee with Coach Joe Kennedy” campaign.
Here’s what you can do:
- Encourage friends and followers to take the First Freedom Challenge and, starting on September 1, pray after football games. Pray on your local school football field or in the stands.
- Post messages throughout the month encouraging friends and followers to take the First Freedom Challenge on social media using the following hashtags: #TakeAKneeWithCoach #FirstFreedomChallenge #RestoringFaithInAmerica
To learn more about this exciting campaign, read Back in the game with first freedom challenge by American Family News.
