City Council codifies policy to ensure all faiths have opportunity to pray.
Killeen City Council has adopted a policy for invited prayer at City Council meetings. Ministers of Killeen churches or individual Killeen residents of any faith wishing to offer a prayer or invocation at the start of a meeting may register their interest with the City Secretary.
City Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 5 p.m. at City Hall with some exceptions. Those registered to offer prayer will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis through the end of the calendar year.
Prayers at the start of governmental meetings are intended to lend gravity to the proceedings and to remind lawmakers of the common aspiration of a peaceful society. Prayers offered are limited to two minutes and may be of a particular faith but may not be used to convert the public to a particular belief or to disparage other faiths.
City staff has attempted to compile a list of Killeen congregations and to contact the ministers of each about this opportunity. If a congregation has not been contacted, a representative is asked to contact the City Secretary to be included on the list and in future correspondence.
City Secretary Lucy Aldrich may be reached at laldrich@killeentexas.gov.