Wednesday, October 17, 2007
AKRON COUNCIL CEASES PRAYER
Monday was judgment day for Akron City Council's practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer before meetings.
Facing the threat of a potentially costly lawsuit, council members said the prayer for the last time.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C., group, recently sent a letter to council threatening to sue unless the prayer was silenced.
Council members met in executive session for about an hour Monday night to discuss the issue. Council President Marco Sommerville said they felt they didn't have a choice.
''There was no sense in putting the city in harm's way,'' he said.
The recitation of the prayer has been a long-standing tradition for council one that most members didn't want to cease.
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