DISCUSS: Should Government Meetings Open with Prayer?

Should government meetings open with a prayer?

That depends on who you ask.

The U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t spoken yet, but it heard arguments earlier this month from two Greece, NY women who say the practice is unconstitutional.

But in a number of Oakland County communities, the tradition of praying for guidance from above is revered, the Observer & Eccentric reports.

At a recent Berkley City Council meeting, a deacon from Our Lady of LaSalette Roman Catholic Church and prayed for the Lord’s “blessings upon this meeting of here of this council that what is discussed and what is decided may be for the building up of the community.”

When Deacon Brian Carroll ended the prayer with “Amen,” many members of the audience replied in kind, the newspaper said.

In Royal Oak, where city commissioners rotate the brief invocation, city officials will abide by the court’s decision, which is expected this summer.

“If it’s status quo, then I think we’ll probably continue to have the invocation the same as we have for a long time,” City Attorney Dave Gilliam told the newspaper. “And if the decision reached by the Supreme Court is that those kinds of comments aren’t appropriate, then my recommendation to the commissioners will be, we just remove that from our standing agenda.”

At Monday’s meeting, Royal Oak Commissioner Peggy Goodwin offered the following:

“Dear God,

“Please bless those affected by natural disasters both here at home and abroad and bring them relief and healing.

“As we make decisions and set policies for our community this evening please help us remember how it impacts the most vulnerable members of our community, including our children, the elderly and those in need.

“Amen”

In Clawson, speakers from different Christian faith groups are invited to give the opening invocation, but are cautioned against using “Jesus” and “Christ,” though “heavenly father,” “God,” “Creator,” etc., are acceptable, the newspaper reported.

City officials in Berkley, Royal Oak and Clawson told the newspaper that the practice isn’t controverisal, but Carroll, the deacon who recently opened the Berkley City Council meeting, said clergy walk a fine line.

“We Christian clergy have to be careful,” he told the newspaper. “There’s a tendency among all of us to end every prayer by saying, ‘we pray in Jesus’ name,’ and one has to watch oneself … that wouldn’t be appreciated by a Jewish person.”

In Huntington Woods and nearby Southfield, however, officials have eschewed the practice as a violation of the separation of church and state.

“I don’t believe they have a place at a government meeting like that because the city exists for the benefit of all, irrespective of religious faith or religious organization” said Mayor Pro-Tem Jules Olsman, who recalls being surprised when an invocation was offered at a city council meeting he attended.

Olsman is an attorney who belongs to a Jewish congregation in Southfield and supports the Woodward Avenue Shul, a Royal Oak synagogue. Praying for guidance “is great,” he said, “but not at a public meeting.”