Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | Texas Monthly

Bless this house: and the Senate too. But a couple of controversial morning prayers have some lawmakers saying a lot more than "amen." (on Faith).

Article Excerpt
THE TEXAS LEGISLATORE COULD USE a little divine intervention. It is beset by a budget crisis that has legislators talking about canceling health insurance for children, closing colleges for the summer, and tossing thousands of people out of nursing homes. In such trying times, the practice of beginning each day's work with a prayer by an invited minister ought to serve as a respite from the lawmakers' worldly troubles. Instead, the morning prayer itself has twice become embroiled in controversy this session. Is there no rest for the weary?

The prayer dispute erupted in the House on the morning of January 30, when the Reverend Mark Moore, the pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Canton, offered an evangelical prayer in a voice as smooth as butterscotch. He quoted a passage from Colossians that describes Jesus as "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" and as the one through whom "all things have been created." Moore continued, "So therefore, under divine appointment and mandate, the members of this House of Representatives are subject to your kingdom." He asked "in your Son's name, Jesus Christ, that you breathe within each of these [members] the qualities...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!