By EMMA RICHTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
A Georgia high school football coach was fired after he held a baptism on school grounds for his players.
Isaac Ferrell was terminated from his coaching position at Tattnall County High School after 20 players were baptized on October 23 behind the Battle Creek Warriors football field by a local pastor.
Ferrell has admitted to organizing the ceremony for the team after he posted videos of it on his Facebook that have since been deleted. Tattnall County Schools Superintendent Kristen Waters said Ferrell was fired from his coaching position after the baptism and another undisclosed incident but still works in the district as a teacher.
Waters told Fox28 that the high school is actively looking for a new football coach ‘that better aligns with the district’s interests.’
The video of the ceremony was also shared to the team’s Facebook page as pastor Gary Few had each player sit in a large black tub of water while he dunked their heads under.
‘I baptize you now, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,’ Few said in the video.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a ‘state/church watchdog,’ were informed of the baptism from a worried community member.
Chris Line, the staff attorney for the foundation, sent a letter to Waters and requested the incident be investigated, saying that it was illegal under the First Amendment.
He claimed the ceremony was a ‘constitutional violation’, and that Ferrell should not be allowed to baptize or preach religion to students.
Line added the school district needed to ‘refrain from infusing its football program with religion.’
According to the foundation’s website, the ‘FFRF works as an umbrella for those who are free from religion and are committed to the cherished principle of separation of state and church.’