"SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT..."

“SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT…”

An article on the current city council prayer controversy in the Roanoke Times Sunday January 11 intimates that Larry Atkin, Minister of Edgewood Christian Church, had agreed to avoid using all objectionable words or phrases when he prays at the February 2 city council meeting. The suggestion is that I will avoid using the Name of Jesus Christ in that prayer. That is untrue. The following is the substance of my reply to this article and subject.

I never spoke with the authors of the newspaper article. The person from the mayor’s office who is alleged to be quoting me I have never spoken to. I did speak by telephone with a clerk in the mayor’s office who told me that an official policy on prayer at city council was being developed by the city government and that when it was complete I would be contacted to see if I could comply with it. I said I would be happy to receive the guide lines and look at them. Like Harold Sumner, I likewise do not seek to stir up controversy. But, also like Sherman Lea and Harold I told the clerk “I will not be told by anyone how to pray or in whose name to pray.”

This is typical of how the news media operates in my opinion. I do not intend to make any public statements through the Roanoke Times. They have proven themselves to me time and again to be unreliable and unfavorable to conservative Biblical Christianity.

When the promised prayer guidelines arrive, should they require the one praying to omit the Name of Jesus Christ, it is almost certain my invitation from the Mayor to open city council with prayer on February 2 will be rescinded. So be it. I would never intentionally so dishonor Jesus, and do absolutely refuse to comply with such a restriction.

This is clearly an infringement of our guarantees to Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion in America. The atheists, humanists, pagan religionists, and false Christians are flexing their muscles. The stalking lion is beginning to roar. Christians, prepare!

Larry Atkin, Preacher