Students forced to attend Christian assembly at West Virginia high school, suit says
A school board in West Virginia is facing legal action after students said they were forced to attend a Christian revival led by a traveling evangelist during school hours.
Nearly a dozen students and parents of students at Huntington High School in Huntington, West Virginia, sued the Cabell County Board of Education, superintendent and principal in federal court on Thursday, Feb. 17, saying they violated the Constitution by “coercing students into participating in Christian religious activity.”
The lawsuit was filed with help from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for the separation of church and state.
A spokesperson for Cabell County Schools declined to comment on the pending litigation, and the president and vice president of the Board of Education did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Feb. 18.
The complaint stems from an assembly led by Nik Walker Ministries, in partnership with a local church, at Huntington High School on Feb. 2, which prompted a student protest a week later.
Huntington sits on the Ohio River in the western corner of West Virginia, and Nik Walker Ministries is a “traveling evangelistic ministry” based in Tennessee. According to its website, the group puts a “heavy emphasis on revival” and seeks to “expose the lost to the saving power of Jesus Christ.”
Nik Walker was invited to Huntington High School by the school’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Cabell County Schools spokesperson Jedd Flowers previously told the Associated Press.
According to the lawsuit, Walker told students during the assembly to “follow Jesus or face eternal torment.” Students said he also asked them to raise their hands and then sent adults into the crowd to pray with them.
“Father, I thank you, that you are not going to let these students leave without you. You are not going to let them leave without knowing you,” Walker reportedly said at one point during the assembly.
Lawyers representing the students said the assembly was held during a homeroom period, also known as COMPASS, from 9:37 a.m. to 10:07 a.m. Flowers, the district spokesperson, told the AP the event was supposed to be voluntary with sign-up sheets for students.
But at least two teachers required their entire class to attend, according to the complaint. One student, who is Jewish, reportedly asked to leave and was told the classroom was locked.
“It’s unfortunate that it happened,” Flowers said, according to the AP. “We don’t believe it will ever happen again.”
The assembly was one of several hosted by Nik Walker Ministries in the Huntington area over two weeks iin early February, according to the group’s Facebook page. On Feb. 1, Walker posted that he had just returned from Huntington East Middle School where “101 students left the gym with Jesus.”
After events at Huntington High School and Boyd County High School the following day, Walker said “50 students gave their lives to Jesus at their voluntary club meetings.”
He told The Herald-Dispatch his ministry never has to contact schools itself to arrange to speak.
“We don’t even have to knock on the door,” he said, according to the newspaper. “The students, they receive hope, and then they want to bring hope to their school or to their classmates.”
The assembly at Huntington High School prompted more than 100 students to stage a walkout a week later, The Herald-Dispatch reported. At least 75 of them signed a petition to be delivered to the Board of Education seeking an apology.
Some parents said they found “proselytizing literature” in their mailboxes after speaking out against the assembly, according to the lawsuit.
“At the behest of adult evangelists, Huntington High School held an assembly for students that sought to convert students to evangelical Christianity,” lawyers representing the families said. “Some students were forced to attend. Regardless of whether attendance is mandatory or voluntary, the defendants violate the First Amendment by permitting, coordinating, and encouraging students to attend an adult-led worship service and revival at their school during the school day.”
The students and parents who filed suit are seeking a permanent injunction that would bar the district from sponsoring any future religious activities during the school day as well as damages of $1 per plaintiff and the cost of attorneys’ fees.
The Cabell County Board of Education, superintendent and principal have not yet responded to the complaint, court documents show.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Students forced to attend Christian assembly at West Virginia high school, suit says."
