Wellington Town Council has rejected a controversial motion calling to scrap the traditional saying of prayers at the start of its meetings.
Independent councillor Pat McCarthy claimed compulsory Christian prayers discriminated against atheists and people of other faiths, and said he wanted a separate service before meetings with official council business starting 15 minutes later.
On 11 May 2010, the Council decided to reject the calls as none of its members was in favour of the ban.
UKIP councillor Dennis Allen, who was at the meeting where the decision has been made, said:
‘We're in a Christian area, most of us are Christians. I think there was minimal chance of anybody changing their mind.’
Rt Revd Mark Rylands, the Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury, said:
‘I fully support Council members in continuing to offer prayers before their meetings begin. Prayers are said at each day in business in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Attendance at these prayers is completely voluntary and no one is forced to actively participate. The saying of prayers before meetings is an integral part of the British system of government.
‘Prayers remind councillors that they are answerable not only to themselves but also to those beyond the Chamber. Those who pray remind themselves they are answerable to God.
‘Those who do not wish to pray can easily absent themselves from the prayers or merely remain silent while those around them pray. However, if prayers are not allowed then those who wish to exercise their freedom to have corporate prayers will have their freedom denied. I hope therefore that the tradition of offering prayers will continue,’ he added.
In November 2009, city leaders in Dundee, Scotland, had planned a spectacular festive season celebration where all references to Christianity should be removed. Any such reference has been deliberately dropped from the switching-on ceremony for the city’s festive lights.
(See the CCFON report)
In September the same year, Camden Council, in north London, reconsidered a ban on posters by a church advertising a weekend of events, unless they remove words such as ‘God’ and ‘Christian’ from the text in order to avoid ‘offending religious sensibilities’. Whilst the council officials insisted they cannot support a Christian group, the council continued to provide for inquirers details of 13 mosques, Muslim study groups, and Islamic social groups.
(See the CCFON report)
In 2008, council leaders in Oxford decided to remove references to Christianity from festive celebrations to make them more 'inclusive'.
(See the Oxford Mail and The Daily Telegraph reports)