Harrogate Borough Council’s practice of reading Christian prayers before meetings is exclusionary to people of other faiths, says the National Secular Society.
When the full council meets, the mayor’s chaplain Rev Michael Gisbourne leads a Christian prayer before it begins, as he did when councillors met virtually last week. The prayer began by saying: “Lord our God from whom all wisdom and understanding comes.”
Except for a brief spell in 2015, HBC has been holding Christian prayer before meetings since the council’s inception in 1974.
But Judy Audaer, who is a member of the National Secular Society’s council and was brought up in Harrogate, says HBC should stop the practice for good.
She told the Stray Ferret:
“By holding prayers, HBC imposes religious worship on people there and gives out a message that they are excluding people who don’t wish to be involved in prayer. At a time when we are trying to increase diversity, it gives out the wrong message. Prayers should have absolutely no part in council business.
“Why does HBC lack diversity? Perhaps because people are getting the message that it’s a set up for Christian people. Harrogate hasn’t got an enormous ethnic minority population, but you would want to see more diversity, and this really doesn’t help if they feel they have to participate in Christian worship at the start of proceedings.”
According to the latest census in 2011, 68.6% of the population in the Harrogate district identify as a Christian, 22.5% as having no religion, 0.4% Muslim, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.2% Jewish, 0.1% Hindu, 0.1% Agnostic and 0.1% Sikh.
The majority of councils hold Christian prayer before meetings, as does the House of Commons and House of Lords.
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In 2015, the government passed a law that gives councils the right to hold prayer before meetings, but the practice has been controversial in some places, with North Somerset Council dropping it last year because “it does not give a voice to our wider community”.
Liberal Democrat councillor for Harrogate Fairfax, Chris Aldred, told the Stray Ferret that Christian prayer is a tradition the council should keep:
“I know many people see it as an anachronism, but I actually think traditions survive for a reason and if it does a little good and no harm should be continued. I am often thankful for these few moments of calm and reflection prior to what are sometimes argumentative and heated debates.”
A spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council said:
“The Local Government (Religious Observances Act) 2015 allows councils to hold prayers at the start of meetings. Councillors and members of the public are not expected to participate and are free to leave the council chamber or remote meeting during the saying of prayers.”
