TUSTIN : Invocation Flap Appears Resolved

The City Council this week laid to rest a monthlong controversy over prayer before its meetings by unanimously passing a resolution that appears to satisfy everyone.

The resolution emphasizes the city’s support of freedom of speech and says that the city’s use of invocations is not intended to endorse any particular religious belief.

Although city officials say there have never been problems with invocations in the past, a letter from the mayor asking local clergy to refrain from using language that might endorse a particular religious belief during invocations sparked a protest last month.

City Atty. James Rourke, whose memo prompted the mayor’s original letter, said later, “Speaking about Jesus Christ is obviously identifying a particular religion.” But Mayor Richard B. Edgar later wrote another letter backing off from that stance.

The resolution was drafted by an attorney for the Christian Coalition, the group that led the protest.

When asked whether saying “Jesus Christ” during an invocation would violate the new resolution, City Atty. Rourke declined to comment. “What do you think?” he asked. “I’m not going to add anything more to it. It really was a non-issue.”

But Rourke did say that the city would probably not take any action against anyone who violated the policy.

The two invocations given since the flap began have not identified specific deities, and the resolution seems to change little. But Christian Coalition spokesman Frank Kazerski said it was a victory for the group.

“It changes things 180 degrees,” he said. “The original letter that the mayor put out was instructing clergy that they were not supposed to endorse any particular religion. This says the city of Tustin is not endorsing any particular religion.”

At Monday night’s meeting, Edgar said he was glad to accept the resolution. “Truly, we don’t have a conflict,” he said. “But we do need to be careful.”

In urging the council to adopt the resolution, Tustin attorney Nova D. Pack said: “We do feel that invoking God in passing legislation is important, for it is the wisdom of God that will prevail rather than the wisdom of the world.”