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Officials should note changes to public prayer

In 2016, the General Assembly changed the SC Public Invocation Act to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway. In that case, the Supreme Court made specific rulings on how public bodies should conduct prayers at their meetings. Additionally, the General Assembly changed who is allowed to deliver those prayers.

Through Act 198, the General Assembly codified the Supreme Court’s determination in the Greece decision that prayers at meetings of public bodies must not "seek to be exploited to proselytize or advance any one (religion), or to disparage any other faith or belief."

The Act also prohibits coercing observers of meetings into participating in a prayer. Instead, the observers should be given the option to participate. Coercion can be as simple as saying to everyone in the room, "Please bow your head." That request is coercive because it does not allow an observer the option not to bow his head. However, inviting observers to participate in the prayer if they choose by saying, "You are welcome to join me in prayer," satisfies the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Finally, Act 198 eliminated the need to rotate the delivery of the invocation among the members of the public body, as previously required by state law. Instead, the body may appoint one of its members to deliver the invocation.

A chaplain appointed by the public body or from among religious leaders within the community may continue to deliver prayers. The appointment of a chaplain by the council has always been an option. That was not changed by the amendment to the law.

No matter who is chosen to deliver a prayer at a meeting, public officials must keep in mind the requirements in the Act.

An invocation of a public body is delivered for the benefit of the members of the body, not the public in attendance at the meeting. Therefore, anyone who delivers an invocation at a meeting of a public body should direct the prayer to the body in order to mitigate the possibility of running afoul of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Additionally, public bodies should incorporate a prayer policy into their rules of procedures using the Act as a guide. If a council’s rules of procedures already include a prayer policy, cities should review those procedures to make sure they comply with changes in the law.

None of the changes to the Public Invocation Act prevent people from praying to whomever they choose. The Supreme Court affirmed in its Greece decision that sectarian prayers are permissible, as long as they do not seek to promote or denigrate any one religion.