By Melissa St. Aude | Casa Grande Dispatch
In the town of Florence, each Town Council meeting begins with a prayer or invocation, usually led by a member of the clergy. The practice is new, having begun earlier this year at the urging of Mayor Tom Rankin.
“I believe in prayer,” Rankin said. “Everybody can use it, and I think it gives direction to the council and citizens.”
The town of Florence is not alone. Across Pinal County, most formal city and county board meetings begin with the bowing of heads and an invocation.
In Eloy, Mayor Joe Nagy said the practice of saying an invocation before the start of each City Council meeting was in effect in his community long before he was sworn in to office. He continued the practice.
“I thought it was nice to have someone on our side,” he said.
But with the U.S. Supreme Court announcing last month that it will hear a case
challenging the constitutionality of prayer in public meetings, the common practice could be called into question.
The case before the Supreme Court is focused on the town of Greece, N.Y., where two residents are challenging the tradition of opening meetings with a typically Christian prayer given by volunteers who were not solicited or invited by town officials.
The municipalities of Casa Grande, Eloy, Florence, Maricopa and the Pinal County Board of Supervisors all follow the tradition of saying a prayer before commencing business.
