Rev. Kent, several other clergy, and members of our congregation have expressed concern about prayers to start city council meetings. To be sure that all citizens of Berea are welcome and included they have long advocated a simple moment of silence for each person to pray in their own tradition.
City Council recently embroiled itself in controversy by attempting to unconstitutionally limit prayer before city meetings to one Christian minister of one particular church. Several city council members refused to acknowledge and recognize members of the community who were not Christian, forcing them to exercise legal avenues in order to be heard. A moment of silence is respectful, inclusive, and deeply ingrained in many traditions, including ours. Sadly, the council voted down this reasonable proposal.
Rachel Dorroh suggests, however, that those who agree that a moment of silence is the most practical, respectful way to handle invocations consider joining her and Rev. Kent in getting on the invocations speaker list for 2020. As an invocation speaker, you can choose to offer a moment of silence yourself. Although representatives of brick-and-mortar congregations are automatically invited, everyone else within Berea city limits who requests to be on the list has a Constitutional right to be included, too. If you want to do this, please email the committee ASAP to get on the list in time.
A moment of silence makes space for everyone to be included and it makes those who are non-Christian and/or against using religion as a political power play more visible. This is important now for the people who are intimidated out of even speaking up at city council for fear of “outing” themselves and facing repercussions, and it is important for shifting the public sentiment and showing that yes, we are here, we pay attention to city government, and we deserve representation.
Here is how to get on the list:
Email the invocations committee stating your name, interest, and mailing address so they can verify you are within city limits. For good measure, include the city attorney, too. You do not have to explain anything about your belief system or what your invocation will consist of.
Here are those email addresses:
Jim Davis jdavis@bereaky.gov
Emily LaDouceur eladouceur@bereaky.gov
Cora Jane Wilson cwilson@bereaky.gov
Ronnie Terrill rterrill@bereaky.gov
JT Gilbert jtgilbert@coygilbert.com (city attorney)
Anyone willing to do this must email the committee ASAP to get on the list. An invitation should then be mailed out to all who request inclusion by the end of the year. Scheduling will proceed from there.
Thank you for considering it!
Sincerely,
Rachel Dorroh and Rev. Kent
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