UU's helped end mandatory school prayer

UUs helped end prayer in public school

Today I got sad news from the UU Church of Cherry Hill, NJ, where I did my ministerial internship. Roger Schemp has died. I fondly remember taking him home after church events. He looked very similar to our Rob Mcgeachin. I was so in awe of him and his family, and always wanted him to talk about his family's famous but little known lawsuit that ended at the Supreme Court. Most people think of Madelyn Murray when they think of ending mandatory school prayer. For you younger 'whippersnappers', in the 1950'2 and 60's, each morning we had to recite the Lord's Prayer and Bible verses. You can imagine how that rubbed raw students who were UU's, Jewish students and of other religions besides Christianity. Maybe even some enlightened Christians. Roger's older brother Ellery decided to do something about it. Read the story here. This is one reason I am so committed to having good programs for teens in UU congregations. They literally change the world.