Guidelines set for prayer at Carpentersville board meetings

Between reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and reading a proclamation, the Carpentersville village board now will pause to ask a higher power for guidance.

That pause will make way for an invocation given by a recognized religious leader from any faith or belief.

But while all recognized leaders are invited to deliver invocations, their "higher power" must remain non-sectarian under guidelines approved Tuesday by the village board.

Though the village has included invocations at its last three board meetings, the guidelines ensure the short invocations comply with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Trustees had previously voted unanimously to include invocations on the agenda, but Trustee Paul Humpfer on Tuesday rejected the policy.

Humpfer, the lone dissenter, did not return calls for comment Wednesday.

The policy states that "all invocations must be of nonsectarian nature" and "cannot proselytize or advance any one religion or disparage any other religious belief."

"For example, specific references to Jesus Christ, Yahweh, Buddha or Allah would respectively be considered references to a specific tenant of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism or Islam," Village Attorney James Rhodes wrote in the policy.

Invocations at board meetings were introduced as a way to bring harmony to the village board.

"I do think it sets a good tone for the beginning of the meeting," Village President Bill Sarto said. "Though we don't always follow that good tone for the remainder of the meeting."