FEARS Warrnambool City Council plans to drop a prayer from its meetings has drawn an impassioned plea from church leaders.
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The Warrnambool Ministers Association made a submission to the council’s meeting procedure local law review, calling for the prayer to be retained as a way of recognising “the breadth and significance of our cultural heritage”.
Meetings are opened with a generic prayer asking for God’s wisdom and understanding for the good governance of the city. An original custodians statement is also read.
The draft rewrite makes no specific mention of a prayer, but lists a welcome and original custodians statement.
Councillor Peter Sycopoulis raised concerns at the March meeting that with no specific mention of a prayer, it could be removed.
“It’s not about Christianity, God is whatever you want it to be,” he said.
“I think it’s a sad day when we take the prayer out, because the prayer is committing yourself to honesty.”
He questioned why the prayer was removed, despite a clause being discussed in a councillor briefing session. Cr Jacinta Ermacora said the query was not resolved.
The council's manager of governance and risk Anne-Maree Neal said the generic wording gave council the option to choose to use the prayer or another welcome.
The ministers association submission says the prayer is short but appropriate.
“Like the welcome and acknowledgement of country, the inclusion of a prayer at the start of a meeting recognises we have been shaped by many traditions,” the submission says.
“The Jeudo Christian tradition has been at the forefront of shaping the democratic process of government that the council operates under.
“To do away with the prayer would be tantamount to denying these realities and is illogical, and to some degree as offensive to us as withdrawing the welcome and acknowledgement of country would be to an indigenous person.”
A second submission was received from Jennifer Lowe calling for council to write to the Local Government Minister to establish a uniform set of standards.
She also asks that local laws not be updated until a revised Local Government Act is approved and not before council elections. Submissions will be heard at a special meeting of council on Monday at 5.45pm.