'Moment Of Silence' Returns To Council Chambers

The Ashland City Council has started its last two meetings with a moment of silence, discontinuing the practice of having a local minister say a prayer.

But, councilors expressed reluctance Tuesday night to change city ordinance to require that meetings begin with a moment of silence.

Councilors overwhelmingly approved a moment-of-silence proposal during a committee of the whole meeting last month, but they voted Tuesday night to allow the council to conduct “invocations” if desired.

Mayor Bill Whalen said Tuesday night he had no intention of returning to invocations that involved someone saying a prayer at council meetings. “We're staying with the moment of silence,” Whalen said after the meeting.

Whalen previously invited local ministers to conduct invocations, though he stopped the practice after councilors voted 9-2 in favor of the moment-of-silence proposal last month.

Some councilors have expressed concerns about mixing prayer and politics, and two representatives of the Ashland Area Ministerial Association asked the council to reconsider whether to continue prayer at meetings.

At Tuesday's meetings, councilors expressed some confusion over the meaning of terms as they debated the prayer issue. For example, the council agenda still includes an “invocation,” even though Whalen has recently returned to a moment-of-silence format.

The council routinely started meetings with a moment of silence until Whalen took office in April 2010 and began inviting ministers to say prayers at meetings.

Councilor Rick Dowd said a moment of silence can still be prayerful. “Having a moment of silence is not about eliminating prayer,” Dowd said.