Opening prayer would bring peace to board, trustees say

Before delving into municipal matters, village board members in Carpentersville now will first ask a higher entity for help.

At the suggestion of Trustee Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, board members on Tuesday supported inviting local clerical leaders to deliver an opening invocation.

Village board members say the prayer will encourage harmony and peace among board members, and ultimately the community.

"It could change the tone of the board meetings and begin with a little more respect for each other," Village President Bill Sarto said. "Maybe we will have a little more thought as to why we are actually there and get people in the right frame of mind before we get the meeting started."

Trustee Keith Hinz said adding an invocation to the agenda would point the village board in the right direction.

"It will bring a little bit more peace and congruity to the board," Hinz said. "It's something we need to unite on that will be positive for us and the village."

To avoid constitutional violations related to the inclusion of prayer during legislative meetings, invocations must meet certain criteria, Village Manager Craig Anderson said.

"You can say 'God,' but you cannot get specific and use 'Jesus Christ' or 'Muhammad' or some other prophet," Anderson said. "It needs to be nonsectarian."

In a memorandum to village officials, Village Attorney James Rhodes said "the types of statements that bring an invocation into question are those that refer specifically to the tenets of one religious belief."

Rhodes added that the use of "Jesus," "Christ" or "Jesus Christ" have been determined to be specifically and overtly Christian in nature.

In other changes to the order of business, public comments were pushed deeper into the agenda.

Though the board historically has presented awards and proclamations before audience participation, the switch is now official.