Printed from https://fyi.org.nz/request/does_the_timaru_district_council on November 22, 2024 05:34

Does the Timaru District Council open its meetings with a prayer?

Alex Harris made this Official Information request to Timaru District Council

The request was successful.

From: Alex Harris

Dear Timaru District Council,

As you may have read recently, the Whanganui District Council abolished its opening prayer after a complaint was made to the Human Rights Commission. I'm interested in learning how widespread this practice is, so I'd like to request the following information under the LGOIMA:

* Does the Council open its meetings with a prayer? * If the answer to the above is "yes", then I'd like a copy of that prayer (or examples, if more than one is used), when the practice was first established, whether the council has considered abolishing it in the wake of the Whanganui decision, and any advice the council may hold on the prayer's compatibility with both the Human Rights Act 1993 and Bill of Rights Act 1990.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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Timaru District Council

Thank you for contacting the Timaru District Council enquiry email address.

We will undertake to respond to your enquiry within five working days.

If your enquiry is urgent, please contact us by one of the following methods.

Customer Services

Telephone
03 687 7200

Fax
03 687 7209

All after hours and faults
03 687 7200
http://www.timaru.govt.nz/

Temuka Residents

Telephone
03 615 9537

All after hours and faults
03 687 7200

Geraldine Residents

Telephone
03 693 9336

All after hours and faults
0800 484 632

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From: Joanne Brownie
Timaru District Council

Opening prayer
 
The Timaru District Council has an opening prayer at the beginning of each
full Council meeting.
 
The prayer varies at each meeting as the local ministers' association
organises a roster of clergy to take turns offering the opening prayer -
we have clergy from all denominations, which makes it fair and adds
balance and variety for this brief part of the council meeting.
 
If no guest clergy can come the Mayor reads our standard prayer which is
as follows -
 
Almighty God
 
Look upon us as we seek to serve our citizens and our district.
 
Guide us in our decision making as we consider issues that will affect
this community.
 
Take from us all selfishness, deliver us from narrow mindedness, and grant
that we may together seek the ways of truth and righteousness, as we make
our decisions around this Council table.
 
Amen
 
Council has had an opening prayer for more than 25 years.
 
At one point Council discussed whether to continue with it or not, being
an increasingly secular society, but they made the decision to continue.
 
There has been no discussion on the Whanganui situation.
 
Regards
 
Joanne Brownie
Council Secretary
 
 
Direct dial  687 7491
Email            [email address]
Website     [1]www.timaru.govt.nz
 
Timaru District Council
2 King George Place
PO Box 522
Timaru 7940
 
 
 
 

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From: Alex Harris

Dear Joanne Brownie,

Thanks for your quick and full response. Just to clarify, when you say that the council uses "clergy from all denominations" to gives its prayer, that's _Christian_ denominations?

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

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From: Joanne Brownie
Timaru District Council

Alex
I guess it depends on who joins the ministers' association, and it would appear from our list that they are all of Christian denomination.

Council hasn't made a conscious decision to include or exclude any clergy of any denomination, we leave it to the ministers' roster coordinator to organise it all, which has perhaps avoided Council being criticised.

I haven't had to delve into who can join the roster so I can't say if our local ethnic minorities have been invited to join or not.

Not sure I'm much help to you Alex but maybe we are just lucky it hasn't been raised as an issue.

Joanne

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