Prayer in Marathon: Does the Public Want It?

It’s been well publicized that the city of Marathon recently passed a resolution that calls for a non-denominational prayer at the beginning of its meetings.

The council members said they were responding, in part, to a “lot of emails” on the subject and moved forward with a vote of 4-1.

They got exactly 12 emails on the topic, two of which opposed an invocation of any sort.

The Blue Paper executed a records request from the city of Marathon asking for all emails with the words “prayer” or “religion” in them during the two-week period between when city councilor Ginger Snead first introduced the measure and when it was finally passed. It may be true that city council members get very few emails from the public but, by any measure, 12 emails in a city of 11,000 is not “a lot.”

Only one person, a local minister, spoke at the meeting when the final vote was taken.

Some people sent prayers themselves; others asked for only Christian prayers. Mark Senmartin, newly elected to the council, was the only dissenting voice. He again asked for a moment of silence.  He responded to one person who contacted him, saying that:

“I have had at least 20 people stop by my store and confirm my compromise to have a moment of silence. My relationship with God is mine to have and I would not ask you or anyone else to understand or participate in it. …My decision was based on fairness. I am sure that you will be happy when your faith is represented, I hope you will be as supportive of all the other faiths when they come to pray on behalf of you and our city.”

The council engaged city attorney John Herin to research the matter and he provided a lengthy document supporting the constitutionality of prayer in front of elected bodies. He based his case upon work he’d done for the city of Lakeland, Florida. The move by the city council cost the city money for the legal work entailed.

Senmartin’s point was missed by the rest of the council. All the churches in Marathon are Christian of one sect or another and yet there is a small Jewish population in the city who must either travel to Tavernier or Key West for services. The weekly “Devotional” page in the Key West Citizen also lists Baha’i Faith Key West, Key West Tara Mandala, KW Mindfulness Meditation Sangha, Quaker, and even Non-denominational churches – all in Key West. It’s not known if anyone living in the Middle Keys attends these services.

Unless one of the clergy from these small denominations is willing to travel to Marathon to deliver a short invocation, it’s unlikely that all religious affiliations in Marathon will be represented. Gary Roberts, director of The Last Resort Ministry on Big Pine Key, wrote to the city council, saying,

“When the City was first incorporated, this [prayer at meetings] was the case. I was privileged to be a part of this through The Last Resort Ministry. Prayer eventually was removed as the council said they could not get pastors to volunteer – whether this was the case I do not know.”

Senmartin’s concerns have merit. It’s likely that most, if not all, of those who recite an invocation will be Christian because that’s the only religion represented by a church in Marathon. It will be up to the council to make sure that the prayers offered are non-denominational and only invoke God and not also Jesus Christ.