A group of Bossier pastors has organized an event to encourage and empower students to live out their faith.
The Freedom Student Summit will be held Sunday, April 8, at the Bossier Parish Community College Gymnasium, located at 6220 E Texas Street in Bossier City. The event will begin at 6 p.m.
The main reason for having the Freedom Student Summit is to empower, encourage, and equip students in their rights to exercise their faith in the public schools. Both Bossier and Webster Parish School Boards have recently been sued for various degrees of religious expression.
“While we don’t know where the legal process will end up for the administrations of these Parishes, we do know that the rights of students to live out their faith is crystal clear and the Freedom Student Summit is one way the churches, students and families can take a stand for student rights,” a statement on behalf of the pastors reads.
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, is expected to attend the April 8 summit.
“As Americans, all of us cherish our freedoms. But sometimes those freedoms are misunderstood—and sometimes they are openly challenged,” Johnson said. “The right to religious liberty (our “first freedom” listed in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights) is one that is under challenge today—around the country, and even right here in our community. But every student needs to be assured that the Constitution clearly protects their right to freely live out their faith—even if they happen to be on a public school campus.”
Going into the April 8 event, there will be student ministries gathering for prayer at their churches. The “Draw A Line” T-Shirts are being made available to area churches and will be available that day.
Numerous Churches will be sharing this event with their congregations and guests on Easter Sunday, which will be a week before the Freedom Student Summit.
The following day, April 9, supporters are asked to draw a blue line on their hands and post pictures on social media with the hashtag #STANDUPBOSSIER.
