"I'd personally like to ignore the letter and continue putting prayer into our meetings."For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
-- Rob Ludwig, school board member
North Carolina Citizens Demand Prayer in Public School
Atheists Threaten Arkansas School so Citizens Pray Publicly
Students, School Reject ACLU's Ungodly Demand
Texas School Supt. Tells Anti-prayer Atheists to Go Fly a Kite
Why is there NO outcry from atheists about overt indoctrination of Islam in public schools?
-- From "Thou shall not pray?" by Alissa Widman Neese, Sandusky (Ohio) Register 9/11/15
For years, the Norwalk school board has included a pastor-led prayer as one of the first items on its monthly meeting agenda.
That ended in July — the first meeting after the district received the cautionary letter.
[Ludwig] and fellow board member Kevin Cashen cited Ohio's state motto, the national motto and Declaration of Independence — which all reference God or a creator in some way — as reason enough to continue forward with prayer at meetings.
"We're going down a slippery slope in ignoring our historical perspective," Cashen said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Prayer back on agenda?" by Cary Ashby, Norwalk Reflector 11/22/15
Based on his research, Ludwig said during the most recent meeting he’s fairly certain it’s constitutional to include prayer.
“We need to have a very clear policy on what that is,” he added.
[John] Lendrum, the board president, requested the district create a policy about prayer on the agenda, which will need to be read several times at monthly meetings before possibly being approved. He expected the earliest vote would be in March.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Should Norwalk school board have right to pray at meetings?" by Cary Ashby, Norwalk Reflector 9/9/15
Norwalk resident Amy Little said the Freedom From Religion Foundation is attempting to “rob us of our faith.”
“I think that’s sad,” said Little, who is a Lutheran pastor, but made it clear she was speaking as a district parent.
During public participation, she told the crowd she was going to pray and those who didn’t want to participate had the option of putting their fingers in their ears. Little thanked God for Norwalk’s great teachers and asked for God’s peace and mediation since the district is negotiating the next contract with the Norwalk Teachers Association.
“Help us listen to you,” she said during her prayer.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Prayer or no prayer before Norwalk school board meetings?" by Cary Ashby, Norwalk Reflector 10/16/15
Elm Street resident Roger George took an informal poll about community members’ feelings on prayer at Norwalk school board meetings.
George talked to 31 people before Tuesday’s meeting. Of those people, he said two were against prayer, four residents were “right down the middle,” meaning they didn’t have strong opinions one way or another, and 25 people supported having prayer during meetings.
George, during Tuesday’s meeting, said he believes most people in Norwalk want to see prayer on the agenda and “will stand behind you.” He said if people don’t agree, they can step outside while someone leads a prayer.
“I think this is very important. We are a very Christian nation,” George said. “We need to defend the rights we have in this country.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read North Dakota Bans Prayer at Catholic School Football Games
