Government-sponsored Sectarian Prayer

National Day of Prayer Proves to Be a Subsidiary of Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family leader mounts attack on New York governor to force him to issue a proclamation

by JewsOnFirst.org, May 1, 2007

Major figures on the Christian Right are pulling out all the stops to simulate an official, government-endorsed national prayer day scheduled for Thursday, May 3rd.

Focus on the Family, regarded as the nation's most powerful religious right group, effectively controls the day's events, according to news reports and interfaith non-profits.

On Monday, Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson thanked his followers for successfully badgering New York Governor Eliot Spitzer into becoming the 50th governor to sign a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer. Continue.

Bible's profile at the Capitol touches a chord

"The 90-hour marathon, which will include readings by about two dozen members of Congress and their staffers, is a lead-up to Thursday's National Day of Prayer. President Harry Truman signed the day into law in 1952 as an interfaith event. But in recent years, evangelical Christian groups have taken the lead in organizing activities around the day, especially those located near seats of government. And in Washington, as in real estate, location counts.

"Critics say that evangelical groups and their allies in Congress are staging events like the Bible Marathon near centers of power as a bid to link secular Washington to Christian ideals. Supporters say they're simply trying to remind people of the important role that faith played in America's founding." Click for the report

Day of prayer focuses on humility, healing

"Nearly 200 people gathered to worship and reflect in front of Tupelo City Hall. Throughout dozens of other Northeast Mississippi communities, residents gravitated to city halls, town squares or courthouses, where local officials and religious leaders led prayers for guidance, for each other and the nation." Click for the report

'National Day Of Prayer' Events Politicize Religion, Divide Country, Says Americans United

Dobsons, Politicians Are Using Religion To Further Political Agenda, Church-State Watchdog Group Charges

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, via Common Dreams, April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - April 27 - Religious Right leaders and politicians are using the National Day of Prayer (NDP) to politicize religion and divide Americans, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Continue

Alliance Defense Fund affirms National Day of Prayer, offers free legal help to those denied observance

Cities have legal right to recognize, participate in May 4 event

Scottsdale, Ariz. - Cities wishing to honor America's Christian history on the National Day of Prayer have been advised by the Alliance Defense Fund that they have the legal right to officially observe the day. ADF attorneys are available for comment to the media and will consider representing any municipality threatened for recognizing the May 4 event, which gained federal recognition more than 50 years ago. Continue

'Friend or Foe'Graduation Prayer Campaign Launched

The "Friend or Foe" Graduation Prayer Campaign was launched today, May 4, by Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, and me. The concept behind the campaign is similar to the successful "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign" that we initiated last year. It is appropriate that we announce this campaign on the National Day of Prayer.

The new campaign is designed to educate, and if necessary, litigate to ensure that prayer and religious viewpoints are not censored from graduation ceremonies across this nation. Continue

High court says no to new rights for church groups

Justices rebuff a quest for services in a library, along with a Catholic group's effort to avoid paying for employees' birth control.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to expand the rights of church groups, turning down appeals in a pair of cases.

In the first case, the justices declined to hear a free-speech claim from an evangelical minister in Northern California who wanted to hold worship services in a public library meeting room. In the second, they refused to hear a freedom-of-religion claim from Catholic Charities in New York, which objected to a state law requiring that employees' prescription drug coverage include contraceptives. The cases were on a long list dismissed on opening day of the court's term. Continue.

Supreme Court Turns Down Cases on Religious Separation

Washington, Oct. 1 — One contentious topic missing from the Supreme Court’s docket as the new term opened on Monday was religion. The justices evidently plan to keep it that way, at least for now.

Among the hundreds of appeals the court turned down on Monday, in a list that printed out at 83 pages, were two cases on the relationship between church and state that might have brought even more visibility to the term.

One was a case from New York on whether church-affiliated employers who object to birth control on religious grounds must nonetheless provide contraceptive coverage to their female employees as part of their medical insurance coverage, as required by laws in New York and some two dozen other states.

The other case challenged the refusal of a public library in California to make a community meeting room available for worship services. Continue.

Supreme Court turns down church barred from Antioch library

Washington - The U.S. Supreme Court turned down an appeal today by a church that argued its religious freedom had been violated when it was barred from holding worship services in a meeting room of the Contra Costa County library in Antioch.

In a separate case, the court denied a hearing to two Oakland employees who said the city had abridged their freedom of speech by removing a flyer they had posted promoting the "natural family" after other city workers founded a Gay and Lesbian Employees Association.

Conservative organizations joined the plaintiffs in both cases in urging the high court to grant reviews. The justices denied the appeals without comment on the first day of their 2007-08 term. Continue.

Cindy Uken: Cathedral City Mayor Pro Tem calls for halt to invocation

The battle over separation of church and state is being waged on the floor of the Cathedral City City Council chambers.

Mayor Pro Tem Greg Pettis has asked that the City Council abolish the longstanding tradition of an opening invocation at each City Council meeting. Councilman Paul S. Marchand supports Pettis in his effort. Continue

Sectarian invocations illegal, group says

Wellington, Florida's village council is hearing from a council member and the Anti-Defamation League that its practice of allowing invocations in the name of Jesus is unconstitutional. But rather than changing its policy, the village is digging in. Click here to read the report.

Please see our page on the Indiana legislature's legal fight to continue opening the government's business with sectarian prayer. Click here.

Tangipahoa board OKs prayer policy

Amite — The Tangipahoa Parish School Board approved a policy Tuesday night that would allow clergy in only “established” religious congregations in the parish to lead prayers opening School Board meetings.

The six-page policy calls for the board secretary to establish a database of those congregations from annual yellow pages listings, the Internet and consultation with local chambers of commerce.

The policy is an attempt by the board to open up to a wide variety of clergy the opportunity to volunteer to deliver invocations on a rotating basis to the School Board. Continue.

Food Yes, Faith No in FEMA-Managed Katrina Housing

Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have told a Louisiana church that it cannot share the gospel after providing free barbeques to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Representatives of a management group that operates five FEMA trailer communities near the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport told members of the Calvary Baton Rouge Church that preaching was not allowed on the government properties. The officials are also prohibiting the church from using community facilities for Bible studies even though other groups freely use the facilities. Attendance at the gospel messages that follow the barbeques or at the Bible studies is completely voluntary.

That action has prompted a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) to government officials, demanding an end to the policy. ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco says actions by the unidentified government officials are unconstitutional. Continue

Bible study draws a crowd

City Hall meetings concern the ACLU

The mayor of Mandeville, Louisiana, near New Orleans, recently began holding Tuesday noon Bible study sessions at City Hall -- once in the City Council chambers. Both the mayor and the pastor who leads the sessions say they are "non-denominational" -- just about "Jesus of Nazareth." The mayor insists he has a right to hold a religious function in a public building. Click for the report

School Board prayers argued in 5th Circuit Court of Appeals

By Debra Lenoine, The Advocate, WBRZ Television (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), February, 9, 2006

The Tangipahoa Parish School Board defended its prayers as okay if not intended to convert the audience. The board's laywers also argued that school boards are not government by the non-establishment clause since they did not exist when the Constitution was drafted. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that no opening prayer is permissible because school boards should not be included in a Supreme Court ruling that state legislatures and other “deliberative bodies” may open their meetings with a prayer. Click here to read the report.

Council refuses to eliminate invocation

By Nick Kotsopoulos, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Massachusetts), February 28, 2007

Worcester -- Prayer will continue to be a part of the opening of City Council meetings.

The council last night rebuffed a request from a representative of Americans United for Separation of Church and State to consider eliminating the invocation from the council meetings, and it rejected a request of Mayor Konstantina B. Lukes to seek a legal opinion regarding the invocations and the recitation of prayers that might promote a specific religion.

Ronal C. Madnick, president of the Massachusetts Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said sectarian prayers, which include any prayer that uses language specific to any particular faith, are unconstitutional. Continue.

Forsyth passes rule on prayer at public meetings

Commissioners to officially allow sectarian prayer

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved in a 4-3 vote last night a new prayer policy that allows sectarian prayers at the beginning of its public meetings.

The policy comes in response to a lawsuit that challenges the commissioners’ unwritten prayer practices at their meetings.

It outlines how commissioners will pick religious leaders to lead their opening invocations and why no limitations will be placed on those speakers. It cites seven court cases that defend their policy. Continue.

County faces weighty decision on lawsuit

Fighting challenge to prayers at meetings could be costly

By Blair Goldstein and Bertrand M. Gutierrez, Winston-Salem Journal, April 1, 2007

The lawsuit filed Friday against Forsyth County challenging prayer practices at commissioners' meetings could be a prolonged, expensive fight.

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation and the Winston-Salem chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Janet Joyner, Constance Lynn Blackmon and Osborne Mauck, three residents of Forsyth County.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the commissioners' practice of opening meetings with sectarian prayers is unconstitutional. It also asks the court to order that the commissioners prohibit prayers to a specific deity during that opening invocation. Continue.

See also documents, including the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation and the Winston-Salem chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and letters from both organizations warning the county that its prayer practice is unconstitutional. Click here.

Council OKs policy for prayer

Alliance Defense Fund pledges to defend Thomasville, if sued

THOMASVILLE | A written policy the Thomasville City Council adopted Monday night allows members to open meetings with prayers invoking Jesus Christ or any other deity by name, provided they do not proselytize their faith or disparage anyone else's.

Whether the policy is constitutional is open to debate, and there was plenty of it at the meeting, attended by a standing-room-only crowd of about 200 that overwhelmingly applauded the outcome.

City fire officials handed out numbers as people entered council chambers, and when they reached the room capacity of 158, about 40 spectators were left crowding the hallway by the doors.

While the council met in closed session in an adjacent room for a half hour at the start of the meeting, the crowd sang "Amazing Grace," and individuals stood offering personal testimonials amid "Amens" and "Hallelujahs."

In a 6-1 vote, with Councilman Joe Hedgpeth casting the lone dissent, the council adopted a model policy drafted by Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a national network of lawyers who handle conservative social and religious cases. Councilman Dwight Cornelison had recruited Johnson to the cause. Continue.

Prayer policy passes 6 to 1

Thomasville board bucks legal advice

After more than an hour of often sharp and emotional debate, the Thomasville City Council voted 6-1 last night to approve a policy that allows references to Christianity and other religions and goes against the legal advice of the city attorney.

City Attorney Paul Rush Mitchell said that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, whose district includes Thomasville, has ruled against sectarian prayer in two cases. Continue.

Official responds to ACLU on prayer

He doesn't say if he'll heed request

PITTSBORO - The chairman of the Chatham County commissioners would not say Friday whether he would comply with the ACLU's request to stop invoking Jesus Christ's name in prayers at government meetings.

"[W]hen it is my turn to pray, I will use my personal judgment just like my fellow commissioners will," Bunkey Morgan wrote in a letter responding to the civil liberties group.

Morgan also blamed political opponents for causing a stir over the board's sectarian prayers, saying he thinks the American Civil Liberties Union learned of the practice from a citizen and not a Feb. 17 article in The News & Observer as an ACLU spokeswoman has said. Continue

Ohio House has new prayer policy

Speaker ignores old guidelines

COLUMBUS - Ohio's House speaker will ignore a 12-year-old guideline that prayers given by visiting clergy before legislative sessions be nonsectarian and non-denominational, although he asks that they not mention specific legislation or advocate certain positions. Continue.

Prayer fight in statehouse

COLUMBUS Guest ministers invited to lead prayers at the Ohio House are violating state guidelines by evangelizing, speaking out on political topics and invoking the name of Jesus, the House clerk’s office said in a memo warning lawmakers.

The issue reached a tipping point during Wednesday’s invocation when the Rev. Keith Hamblen, pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Lima, made multiple references to Jesus, spoke favorably of church-sponsored schools and mentioned the bills up for debate that day, including a proposal to ban nudity in strip clubs after midnight.

That sparked a memo from House Clerk Laura Clemens, asking lawmakers to enforce state guidelines that require guest ministers to submit prepared remarks at least three days in advance for review. The rule had been loosely enforced. Continue.

Prayers at Ohio Legislature Criticized

Guest ministers leading prayers in the Ohio House are violating guidelines by evangelizing and speaking on political topics, the House clerk warned.

The issue reached a tipping point Wednesday when the Rev. Keith Hamblen, pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Lima, referred to Jesus more than once, spoke favorably of church schools and mentioned bills up for debate that day.

Two lawmakers walked out in protest, and House Clerk Laura Clemens sent a memo reminding lawmakers of the rules. House guidelines require guest ministers' prayers to be nonsectarian and nonproselytizing. They are also supposed to be submitted three days in advance for review. Continue

Under Ban, 6 Troopers Resign as Chaplains

Chief Orders Nondenominational Prayers

RICHMOND, Sept. 24 -- Six Virginia State Police troopers have resigned their voluntary positions as chaplains following the implementation of a policy that bans them from referring to Jesus Christ in public prayers.

House Republicans blasted Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) for the directive Wednesday, but Kaine's office said the police superintendent issued the directive. Continue.

Prayer breakfast struck exclusive tone, some say

"Zig Ziglar is known as a motivational speaker. His comments at the 40th annual Commonwealth Prayer Breakfast yesterday were that, but not all present thought them fitting for a multifaith gathering.

"Ziglar asked the nearly 1,400 people, including Jews and Muslims, to pray "the sinner's prayer" with him. The prayer included the words 'no man comes to the father except through Jesus Christ.'" Click here to read the report.

A breakfast of church-state togetherness

"Virginia's leadership took the morning off from separation of church and state yesterday....For those who lament there's no God in government or no Jesus in the General Assembly, yesterday would have been an eye-opener." Click here to read the report.

Prayer lawsuit hits city

The Rev. Hashmel Turner files suit against his fellow City Council members over prayer policy.

By Emily Battle, The Free Lance Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia), January 12, 2006

"Fredericksburg City Councilman Hashmel Turner has filed suit against his fellow council members, saying that the city's new prayer policy violates his constitutional rights." He wants to pray in the name of Jesus at meetings. Click here to read the report.