The Town Council has voted 4-3 to return to the regular practice of opening council meetings with an invocation prayer.

The item related to the invocation was placed on the agenda at the request of the three newest council members, Allen Skillicorn, Brenda Kalivianakis and Hannah Toth. Councilman Gerry Friedel joined those three in voting for the invocation.

Skillicorn accused Mayor Ginny Dickey of “banning” prayer at the council meetings. It is a practice Dickey discontinued early in 2021 at her discretion, the beginning of her third year in office.

The invocation prayer was not “banned” by the mayor or council. It has remained an option for council agendas, along with a “moment of reflection,” as outlined in the Council Rules of Procedure. An updated version of the rules was adopted in October of 2021. It is unclear when the practice specifically began, as records are not readily available, but it has been, until this vote, the discretion of the chair or mayor.

“Our mayor banned prayer without a vote or public notice,” Skillicorn claimed in a statement released following the meeting. “She just snuck this in the back door and now defiantly tries to keep prayer out.”

While many meetings during 2020 were limited access due to COVID, Dickey said the pandemic was not a reason for her decision.

“In January of 2021, I started the moment of silence regularly, which has continued through today. So, while COVID was a known entity, with our first activities affected in March of 2020, it was never a factor in my choosing to pause for a moment of reflection rather than an invocation to begin meetings,” Dickey said.

“For whatever reason, there were many times over the years that no one was there to do the invocation. The mayor at the time would then call for a moment of silence. It was an expected and acceptable way to begin meetings.

“I chose not to ask staff to formally schedule invocations starting in January 2021 and hold the moment of reflection.

“After two full years of regular practice with no requests to change, I am confident that this choice proved to be special, allowing everyone present the respect to choose their own thoughts. I trust that a person’s faith can be private, and strong. A moment of silence is unifying and inclusive. We often see it invoked at public gatherings where an event or a person is to be recognized solemnly and with honor.

“I believe an invocation does not bring us together (as evidenced by the meeting comments suggesting some residents’ voices are meaningless or that our neighbors should wait in the lobby in order to accommodate their own demands) but may serve to exclude some in the community who we are equally bound to represent.”

Discussion

There was, as Skillicorn describes, a lively discussion regarding the topic. Taken as a whole, including public comments made at the meeting, comment cards turned in to the Town Clerk at the meeting and numerous emails received by council members prior to the meeting, the discussion seems fairly evenly split.

Jill Keith, a local business owner, noted that the invocation prayer is not for the public.

“This is asking for assistance for you, and I think you need it,” Keith said. “When you pray together and ask for help, it sets a tone of sincerity. At a minimum you start the meeting in agreement – the worst it can do is nothing and it may help.”

One gentleman noted that Benjamin Franklin called for the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to begin each day with a prayer for guidance.

It should be noted that Franklin’s suggestion was opposed by Alexander Hamilton and others, and the Convention adjourned without ever voting on the motion (per article from National Park Service website).

Adele Resmer, a Lutheran pastor, asked that the council observe the moment of silence rather than prayer.

“There is room for all of us, and the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment, really requires that,” Resmer said.

She added that the rhetoric surrounding the request for an invocation suggests that anyone who disagrees are not faithful, do not believe in God, and don’t have the good of the country at heart, implying a test that is not Constitutional.

Vice Mayor Peggy McMahon said that no matter how the issue is addressed it will be divisive.

“Taking a moment allows us to gather our own thoughts,” McMahon said. “Our community is already divisive, why bring it into our meeting?

“A moment of silence is very personal and each of us is free to chose how we spend that moment. We have an ethical duty to consider all our constituents.”

In the past clergy or representatives of all churches or faiths in the community had been invited to offer the invocation prior to council meetings. This action would resume that practice.