WICOMICO CO., Md. - The Wicomico County Council has announced it will no longer open meetings with the Lord’s Prayer to avoid potential legal risk or expenses.
The Council made the announcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, saying the issue began after a council member had read from the Bible out loud during a meeting in September, prompting threats of litigation. According to the County Council, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent three letters of demand following the meeting.
On Sept. 16, during council comments, Councilmember James Winn referenced increasingly tumultuous current events and the death of Charlie Kirk before producing a Bible.
“I’m telling you, it’s because people are falling away from the word from Christ,” Winn said. “Everything’s right here, the answers. This is truth.”
Winn then read several excerpts from Romans, Matthew, and Revelations.
“I know not everyone here’s a Christian, and that’s okay, I’ll pray for you,” Winn said after reading the verses. “There’s only one way, and that’s through Jesus Christ as your lord and savior.”
Months later, the County Council said that reading prompted the legal action from outside groups. Ultimately, Council President John Cannon decided to discontinue the Lord’s Prayer following advice from legal counsel and after reviewing case law.
“This decision was made by Council President John T. Cannon after receiving legal guidance indicating that the United States District Court for Maryland and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit have ruled against council-led sectarian prayer,” the Council said in a statement on Wednesday. “Legal counsel advised that any challenge to this precedent would likely require litigation through the U.S. Supreme Court level, with no reasonable expectation of success in the Maryland courts or Fourth Circuit.”
“This decision reflects a difficult but necessary response to existing legal realities and is not one the Council President, nor members undertook lightly,” the Council said in their statement.
Speaking with WBOC, Cannon underscored the move was taken to spare Wicomico County taxpayers from any exorbitant legal fees and expenses as a result of a potential lawsuit.
"Where we don't obligate the citizens of Wicomico County any type of exorbitant expenses, at the same time we still have time to figure out what we're going to do," Cannon said.
The Wicomico County Council said it was considering other options regarding future meeting openings.
County Executive Julie Giordano railed against the decision to discontinue the tradition of reciting the Lord’s Prayer ahead of the meetings.
“We bent the knee for one person at the expense of 104,000 people,” Giordano said in a social media post. “I don’t think we would’ve been sued. We’ve looked at the legal ramification of having the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning. It would definitely be an issue if we were forcing people to say the Lord’s Prayer, but you have the choice.”
Giordano, a Republican herself, went on to imply that the 5-2 Republican-majority Council could have pushed back. She also praised Winn for standing his ground and defended his use of council comment time to read from the Bible.
