Akron, USA - Under legal threat from a church-state separation group, the City Council has dropped its long-standing practice of opening meetings with the Lord's Prayer.
Council President Marco Sommerville said the prayer was most likely started to show citizens that council members looked for outside guidance.
But after the advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State threatened litigation, council members decided to shed tradition, choosing instead to pray privately before meetings.
"I'm delighted that the Akron City Council did the right thing and that no one attending those meetings now feels like a second-class citizen because they don't believe in the Lord's Prayer," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "The people who wanted to pray are going to do so before they go into council chambers, and that's fine."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio also applauded the move.
All 13 Akron council members agreed to cease saying the Lord's Prayer, not wanting to fight — and lose — in court.