Enfield School Board Votes To Stop Using First Cathedral For Graduations

Once more we have a situation where a school has used a large church building for graduations ceremonies, only to face threats of lawsuits from the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The argument usually raised during such discussions is that using the church building violates the so-called "separation of church and state."

I wonder if our founders, the very people who created the Constitution, thought the same thing when they allowed the U.S. Congress' own building to be used for Christian worship services. In any case, using the church building was not creating an official religion. It was simply allowing parents and relatives to use a building that might be more appropriate for the ceremony.

My own children had their high school graduation ceremonies at a large local church. Could the school have been used? Yes, assuming:

• the audience would have been limited to parents only, not extended family, because of limited seating and parking
• the audience did not mind not being able to see as well or hear as well in the gymnasium (the church has a pair of giant monitors that display close-up views of what is going on)
• those in the audience with mobility issues would be able to see (or even fit) on the floor area because, unlike the church, no elevators were present to get them to a better vantage point
• the audience did not mind the stiffing heat in the bleachers during the hot spell that was fairly common at that time of year (the church was air conditioned)

Using the church in our case was logical and allowed more people to enjoy the ceremony. No sermon was delivered; no hymns were sung; no offering was taken. But we had our extended family there, we sat in comfort, and we could see and hear well. And there was ample parking AND traffic management for all of our cars, making the experience less prone to unfortunate accidents. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

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Enfield School Board Votes To Stop Using First Cathedral For Graduations