ALDERMEN TAKE CUE FROM PRE-GAME PRAYER

By Sam Blackwell

JACKSON, Mo. Jackson Board of Aldermen meetings traditionally begin with those in the chamber standing to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Monday night, Mayor Paul Sander invited those who wished to participate to remain standing for "a moment of silent prayer."

In addition to the members of the Board of Aldermen and city staff present, all 10 or so people in the room remained standing and bowed their heads.

Sander thinks this is the first time the Jackson Board of Aldermen has introduced prayer into its bimonthly meetings

"It's not a big deal, and it is a big deal," he said.

He and members of the Board of Aldermen have been discussing adding the prayer to the meeting for some time, and others have suggested the idea over the years, he said. "We felt what we did was appropriate and would not offend anyone."

Last summer's Supreme Court ruling that led the Jackson schools to discontinue a prayer said over the loud speaker before every football game sparked some interest in the idea of including a prayer in the council meetings, Sander said.

Jackson fans circumvented the ruling by organizing their own prayer before a home game last month.

The city checked out the legality of the silent prayer with the Missouri Municipal League beforehand. City governments don't operate under the same strictures schools do, Sander said.

"The Missouri House, the Missouri Senate, the U.S. Congress have a prayer, so why shouldn't we?" he said.

Written instructions available to those who entered the board chambers said the moment of silent prayer would be observed "to ask for direction and the blessing of our deliberations toward the betterment of Jackson. Amen' will follow the moment of silent prayer and then the regular meeting will begin."