Law Commons^™

How Prayer Before Public Meetings Affects Participation, Rebecca R. Gomez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 50 years, there have been numerous lawsuits regarding religion and government. However, there has been little analysis of invocation practices. Other case studies examined invocations of one agency which identified the actions and phrases that led to claims of establishing religion. Therefore, city councils lacked direction to avoid invocation litigation and ensure public participation. Most city councils within Orange County, California, began their public meetings with an invocation. The remaining cities did not have a prayer, and one city had a moment of solemn expression. This qualitative study explored the impact of legislative prayer on meeting participants …