Skinner inspires House bill

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Skinner inspires House bill

Landmark Christian School headmaster Matthew Skinner accepted an invitation last month from Gov. Sonny Purdue to attend a signing ceremony for House Bill 678, a�bill which Skinner helped inspire.

The bill assures that state law will not prohibit a private school from conducting a prayer prior to an athletic event held on the campus of the private school, including GHSA playoff events.

The journey to this historic signing began in December of 2003, when Skinner gathered local and national attention for his "nonprayer" at a Landmark hosted GHSA playoff game.�Three hours before that game, Skinner had been handed a letter advising him not to pray over the public address system "to avoid the appearance that the GHSA is endorsing religion." Skinner proceeded to give a message over the loudspeaker about what he would not pray about that evening and how he would not pray in the name of Jesus Christ due to the prayer ban.

After Skinner's response to the prayer ban was covered in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, state Rep. J. Mark Burkhalter contacted Skinner to say that he was going to introduce legislation to allow private schools to pray at home GHSA playoff games. Burkhalter's action was popularly supported and led to the passing of�HB 678.