Church plans prayer rally

A local church is reacting to the recent questioning of Aiken City Council's usage of prayer during public meetings by holding a rally.

The Aiken Prayer Rally, sponsored by members of the Lakeside Baptist Church in Clearwater, will be held on the same day and in the same building as the next City Council meeting on Aug. 9.

The rally is in response to a letter City Council received from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in late June, asking them to opt for a moment of silence or not pray at all after a concerned resident contacted them. The Freedom from Religion Foundation is a nonprofit group based in Madison, Wis., that focuses on violations of separation of church and state around the country.

According to an event flier, the rally is in support of prayer during public meetings and is intended to offer encouragement to Aiken residents and City Council members.

The flier states, "We do not want to give up the right to pray because a few are opposed to it."

Aiken City Mayor Fred Cavanaugh was not aware of the rally and said that he thought the idea was "wonderful" but that Council members are planning to continue the opening prayer at their meetings.

"We've had prayer ever since I was in City Council, which has been a good 24 years," he said. "We will have prayer; it will be modified to abide the Constitution and the law."

That modification is to not designate a prayer to a single religion or deity. South Carolina law allows the usage of "God" in public prayer but not words that would specify a single religion. The letter from the religion foundation contained transcriptions of several City Council prayers over the last few months that contained certain words that were specifically Christian, such as the usage of "Jesus" or "your son."

Council members may opt to write their prayers down to avoid using any words that would represent a single religion.

As for the moment of silence at the July 12 meeting, that is not permanent. Council members did that as a precaution before they could discuss the issue with their attorney after they were notified of the letter challenging their prayers.

Cavanaugh added that the prayer is done for the Council members themselves. He said they are going to discontinue asking people to stand during prayer, but anyone in the audience can participate if they wish.

Cavanaugh said that these are just steps to keep the tradition of the opening prayer but to do it in a legal manner.

"It's just the law," Cavanaugh said. "We take an oath to follow the Constitution and the law."

The Aiken Prayer Rally will be held at 6 p.m. in the first floor conference room.

Contact Amy Banton at abanton@aikenstandard.com.