Mayor proclaims Alabama town 'City of Prayer'

The Associated Press

04.22.99

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GADSDEN, Ala. — A town already at the heart of a dispute over the role of religion in government has a new nickname, courtesy of the Christian mayor: "The City of Prayer."

Mayor Steve Means issued a proclamation naming the northeast Alabama community "The City of Prayer" and stating that Gadsden and Etowah County are "consecrated grounds for the fulfilling of God's purpose, working through the Holy Spirit" and "prayer warriors."

Critics contend the proclamation violates the separation of church and state in Gadsden, where Circuit Judge Roy Moore's display of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom sparked a legal fight that helped shape Alabama's 1998 gubernatorial election.

"You can't consecrate a city to the god of one religion," said resident Carol Faulkenberry, an atheist activist who asked the mayor to rescind the proclamation.

"In a sense, he made the whole city into a church. It bothers me that when I wake up in the morning I'm looking for my teeth in a place of worship," said Faulkenberry, 60.

Acting at Faulkenberry's request, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who sued over Moore's Ten Commandments display has written the city claiming the proclamation is unconstitutional. No lawsuit is imminent, said lawyer Pamela Sumners of Birmingham.

But Means, a Methodist, said in an April 20 interview that he was ready to defend his action in court if necessary. The proclamation was meant to be passed around area churches for people to sign like a petition, he said.

"If somebody can convince me that I've broken the law, I'll rescind it. But it ain't going to happen, in my opinion," said Means, in his 21st year as mayor.

The proclamation, issued April 1, received virtually no attention in the city of 41,000 until last week, when Faulkenberry's complaints were aired in The Gadsden Times.

Means said he issued the proclamation at the request of an area artist who thought it would be a good idea to emphasize prayer in Gadsden, where 1,320 jobs are being lost by the closing of a tire plant.

"I told him he had good timing," Means said of John Sandridge.

Sandridge did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Means' action has created mixed feelings among area Christians like Becki Morgan, a Southern Baptist who says the mayor's critics have "some very valid points," even though she disagrees with them.

"We have a Christian heritage, and the majority of our problems in this country are because we have gotten away from that," Morgan said.

A leading member of the city's Jewish congregation says he does not agree with everything Means says or does, but he considers him a close friend and supporter of religious freedom.

"He doesn't have any viciousness in him," said Alan Cohn of Temple Beth Israel.

Moore's highly publicized battle to keep the Ten Commandments in his court became a rallying point for conservative supporters of Republican Gov. Fob James in his re-election campaign last year. James lost in a landslide to Democrat Don Siegelman, who campaigned on a state lottery.

Means said his proclamation had nothing to do with Moore, who was ordered to remove the plaque in a ruling that was later set aside by the Alabama Supreme Court.