Next Tuesday, county commissioners will officially pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America — without prompts from the audience.

The commissioners court approved beginning meetings with a prayer and the pledge two weeks ago, but not until they also created a policy to shield the county from potential lawsuits about saying a prayer.

The court Tuesday unanimously approved such a policy, drafted by Commissioners Lester Gibson and Kelly Snell and the county’s attorney, Mike Dixon.

Commissioners Joe Mashek (left) and Jim Lewis recite the pledge at the June 29 meeting.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

Most of the three-page policy details the method in which clergy from different faiths in the county are to be selected to deliver the prayer each week. The stated goal of the policy is to install prayer into commissioners meetings “in a manner that encourages respect for the rich diversity of religious beliefs” in the county.

The county will research congregations in the county and invite the leaders of those churches to say the prayer. The letter will list the dates of the commissioners court meetings for the year and ask the church leaders to list three dates they would prefer to deliver the invocation.

The letter will list a cut-off date for responses.

The responses will be stamped with the date and time received, and county officials will proceed to schedule clergy in that order. If dates remain unfilled, a second letter will be sent out soliciting volunteers, beginning the scheduling process again.

The policy states that the court will not restrict volunteers on what can and cannot be said in the prayer, but adds that “the Commissioners Court requests that the public invocation opportunity not be exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief.”

County Veteran Services Officer Steve Hernandez or a local veteran he recruits will lead the Pledge of Allegiance at each meeting.

If the people scheduled to present the prayer and pledge are not present for a given meeting, the court will have a two-minute moment of silence, and one of the commissioners will lead the pledge.

For now, the court will begin each meeting with a silent prayer followed by the pledge, Gibson said.

Gibson said he expects it will take a month to research the county’s churches, then draft and send representatives letters inviting them to say the prayer. It will take another few weeks to set the schedule, he estimated.

“It looks like people are urgent about saying the pledge, and I don’t we should continue waiting on everything, because we are going to have to do a lot of administrative work coordinating with every faith in McLennan County,” Gibson said.

Local citizens, including veterans and members of the Waco Tea Party, staged impromptu recitations of the pledge for the previous two weeks during the public comment section of the court meetings.

The court first considered adding the pledge May 11 when Commissioner Joe Mashek sponsored the issue on the agenda. Gibson pushed to incorporate a prayer first.

rdennis@wacotrib.com

757-5755

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