A California city manager’s attempt to strike the word “Jesus” from prayers and invocations at public events is unconstitutional, according to an advocate for two chaplains impacted by the ban.
In a letter to Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn and four other council members, attorney Kayla Toney of the First Liberty Institute decried City Manager Scott Chadwick’s new restrictions on prayers.
Mr. Chadwick, according to the letter, told Denny Cooper and his son, J.C. Cooper — both chaplains — that the use of Jesus’ name during public events was “considered harassment, created a hostile work environment, and lifted one religion above another.”
J.C. Cooper, a volunteer police chaplain, and his father, a volunteer fire chaplain, were confronted with the edict after the younger Mr. Cooper concluded an awards ceremony prayer with the words, “in Jesus’ name,” a common closing in Christian circles.
The Coopers have deep connections to the city and chaplaincy. Denny Cooper is a baseball coach and physical education teacher in the city’s schools and has volunteered as a fire chaplain for 18 years. His son is the associate pastor at The Mission Church and has been a police chaplain volunteer for six years.
“Mr. Chadwick then told J.C. [Cooper] that he could pray using any other name or term for God, but he could not say ‘Jesus,’” Ms. Toney wrote.
The younger Cooper “respectfully declined” a request to offer an invocation at a police promotions ceremony, the attorney wrote.
Speaking with The Washington Times, Ms. Toney said the Coopers were distressed by Mr. Chadwick’s assertions.
“Accusing them of harassment really was painful for them to receive, especially because they’ve been volunteering their time on top of full-time jobs for many years to serve,” she said. “The city’s first responders and the police and fire departments have always expressed how much they appreciate the Coopers and how much they value that ministry.”
Ms. Toney also told a reporter Mr. Chadwick’s statement on what the Coopers could and could not say in a public prayer does not seem to have been approved by the mayor or the city council.
She said Mr. Chadwick “misunderstands the law concerning public chaplains and invocations.”
Ms. Toney noted that in a 2014 Supreme Court ruling in Town of Greece v. Galloway, the majority ruled that “a prayer given in the name of Jesus, Allah, or Jehovah, or that it makes passing reference to religious doctrines, does not remove it” from the longstanding American tradition of public prayers by chaplains.
Ms. Toney said, “Our goal here is really to equip the city with the correct understanding of the Constitution so that they do the right thing and allow the chaplains — as they always have — to pray in the name of Jesus.”
The Washington Times has contacted city officials for comment.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.