Five years after losing a lawsuit over its invocation policy, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is considering another change.
Invocations are typically delivered at the beginning of each assembly meeting, by religious leaders, community members and occasionally past or sitting assembly members. According to the borough’s current policy, revised in 2018, anybody can give an invocation, regardless of religious affiliation.
But Tuesday, the borough assembly will take up a resolution to revise that policy, sponsored by Mayor Peter Micciche, Assembly Vice President Tyson Cox and Homer member Kelly Cooper.
The resolution proposes that instead of being open to anyone, the invocations be delivered by volunteer chaplains for the borough’s fire and emergency medical service areas. The chaplain would not be bound to any particular religious beliefs or affiliations and the invocation would be limited to two minutes.
The resolution suggests that invocations in the past few years have not been in the spirit of the practice, to solemnize the meetings and lend gravity to the situation.
“Over recent years drawn-out, politically and religiously motivated speeches have become more frequent than true invocations,” the resolution reads.
In 2018, the Alaska Superior Court sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit against the borough it brought on behalf of three individuals — an atheist, a member of the Satanic Temple and a Jewish person. All three applied to do invocations and were denied. The borough revised its policy that November, which allowed anyone to give an invocation, regardless of religion.
The resolution is currently located on the consent agenda for tonight’s meeting, which means it will be passed when the agenda is approved unless a member pulls it off for discussion.
