The Town Council voted to adopt an official policy related to offering an invocation prior to council meetings in Fountain Hills.

The council voted to institute an invocation prior to regular meetings at its Jan. 3 meeting. It was proposed, however, that an official policy be adopted related to participation in the invocation. No action was taken on a policy proposed at the Jan. 17 session with action postponed until the Feb. 7 meeting.

The policy uses a proposal written by Town Attorney Aaron Arnson as a basis. Two other council members, Vice Mayor Peggy McMahon and Brenda Kalivianakis, both attorneys, presented options Feb. 7. The adopted policy is based on Kalivianakis’ proposal, which is substantially consistent with Arnson’s.

Kalivianakis did replace the use of “individual” in the policy proposal with the term “organization.”

She also made changes to the portion of the policy outlining the procedure for getting on the list for giving the invocation. Arnson had proposed that individuals interested in giving the invocation reach out to the Town Manager’s office for scheduling.

The process adopted with Kalivianakis’ proposal states, “the Town Manager or his/her designee may identify and contact organizations to offer an invocation. The invocation may be offered by a person of any religion, faith, belief or non-belief.”

Organizations may reach out to be placed on a list to give the invocation on a first-come, first-served basis.

It also states that “In the case of a representative of a church group or congregation where the representative is not a Town resident or has not been a resident for at least a year, a substantial number of Town residents must be members of the group or congregation.”

McMahon said she believes portions of the policy, such as the one-year residency requirement, were not enforceable and believes the policy provides the opportunity for one faith or religion to dominate the process.

McMahon cast the single vote opposing the policy.

Councilwoman Sharron Grzybowski is not a proponent of the invocation and spoke her mind.

“Religion has caused divorce, family disagreements and isolation,” Grzybowski said. “Our local pastors don’t even get along.

“Wars, isolation, and hypocrisy - None of that seems to be in line with what I remember from my Sunday school lessons on the life of Jesus. The Jesus that I remember learning about dined with and cared for the vulnerable. He cared for the weak and defenseless. He learned from them, and he was open minded to learn from those that didn't follow his teachings.

“All religions have basically the same foundation - the golden rule. A lesson that we learned in kindergarten, treat others as you want to be treated. Allowing all religions to participate in the invocation will remind us of this dogma by bringing unity with the commonality of our various religions.

“The First Amendment dictates that we not promote one religion over another. So we’re going to get around that by suggesting that they have a connection based on a certain time length and a substantial number of residents need to be members? These requirements are excessive and make us look like we're only seeking input from certain religions that we deem acceptable.”

Kalivianakis defended her proposal saying it is more inclusive than the original brought by Arnson.

Resident Crystal Cavanagh said she believes the invocation was becoming way too big a deal and common sense needs to be used.

Ted Blank took issue with the first come, first serve approach, setting up a competitive process. He suggested the Town collect the requests to give the invocation for up to a year and they draw them randomly.

The vote to approve the policy was 6-1 with McMahon dissenting.