Answer to prayer?
Pastor Aaron Richner with The Cause Church opens the April 5, 2022 City Council meeting with an invocation. From left, Councilmembers Christie Wood, Dan Gookin, Mayor Jim Hammond, Amy Evans, Kiki Miller and Woody McEvers bow their heads during the prayer.
BILL BULEY/Press
COEUR d’ALENE — After nearly eight months without an invocation to start a City Council meeting, the practice is expected to resume in 2024.
The city is calling for nonprofit, faith-based organizations in Coeur d’Alene to register for a lottery to be assigned an invocation date.
Since registration opened Nov. 16, the city has received 11 valid entries, said City Clerk Renata McLeod. It closes Dec. 15.
Twenty-four City Council meetings are scheduled next year, with the first on Jan. 2. Dates will be assigned at the time of the lottery.
Mayor Jim Hammond said he believes the invocations “still have some value as long as they are inclusive.”
He said if an organization meets the criteria to offer the opening prayer, it should be able to do so.
Hammond said the previous system for invocations limited who could give them. He said that needed to be refined so all faiths could have the opportunity to participate.
Invocation guidelines per the city's website, include: No more than three minutes long; it should not seek to convert others; it should not be political or disparage other faiths; should not threaten those with different beliefs "with hell, damnation or other punishment;" and should address "universal values such as peace, wisdom, and justice."
The last invocation was given April 4, 2023.
Hammond hopes the lottery generates enough interest to fill the open dates.
“I think the value is making them all inclusive and not excluding anybody that wishes to do it,” he said.
McLeod said, when the city conducted the first lottery, it only had enough submissions to fill half the calendar year. She believes they’ll get more this time around.
The Coeur d’Alene City Council on Aug. 16, 2022 voted unanimously to open invocations before meetings to any “nonprofit, faith-based organization within the city of Coeur d’Alene.”
The change started with the new fiscal year on Oct. 1.
The decision ended a long-running practice of having Christian pastors provide the opening prayers, as scheduled by the Kootenai County Ministerial Association.
At the time, Pastor Paul Van Noy of Candlelight Christian Fellowship, also president of the Kootenai County Ministerial Association, argued against the change.
On Tuesday, he said he and other pastors have registered for the lottery.
He said he still opposes letting any organization that meets the city’s criteria pray before the council meetings.
“We must be aware of the fact that our invocations, by opening it up to other faith groups, makes the city vulnerable to so-called deities other than the God of the Bible," he said.
"Sadly, other deities or demonic spirits may respond to the invocation," he added. "This is why it concerns me. We make ourselves vulnerable to the demonic."
Van Noy said having invocation dates assigned could be a problem for some pastors with busy schedules. But he said he and others with the ministerial association will be glad to do their best and take their turns offering a prayer at City Council meetings.
“I love our community and seek God's blessing for it," he said.
To register for the invocation lottery, go to www.cdaid.org/invocation.
Info: McLeod, 208-769-2231 or Renata@cdaid.org.