Northwest Michigan health board's meeting prayers draw mix of input

Annie Doyle, The Petoskey News-Review
·4 min read
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CHARLEVOIX — Despite the Health Department of Northwest Michigan's purview being that of health care, at their most recent board of health meeting on Oct. 3, a number of citizens spoke regarding the issue of prayer.

Earlier this year, as the newly elected and re-elected board members took office — consisting of two commissioners selected by their peers from Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties — an "invocation" agenda item was created, adding a specified moment of prayer at the beginning of each board of health meeting.

Since this inception, the designated religious acknowledgement has been met with much vocal public opinion, according to Board of Health Chair and Charlevoix County Commissioner Scott Hankins, who says numerous people have reached out to him over the past several months regarding the topic.

At the Oct. 3 Health Department of Northwest Michigan Board of Health meeting, several citizens gave their opinion on the public prayer moment each month.
At the Oct. 3 Health Department of Northwest Michigan Board of Health meeting, several citizens gave their opinion on the public prayer moment each month.

Up until last month, the invocation has been decidedly Christian in nature, with a volunteering commissioner asking for guidance and blessings. However, at the board meeting on Sept. 18, in what he says was a response to public pressure, Hankins conducted the invocation as a "moment of silence" for individuals of all religious faiths to utilize as they wish.

At the Oct. 3 board meeting, vice chair and Antrim County Commissioner Jarris Rubingh who was in charge in Hankins' absence, conducted the invocation once again in a Christian manner.

There were a total of seven citizens who took to the podium to speak during public comment at the Oct. 3 meeting. Not one of them spoke regarding health care issues, all of them commented their opinion regarding the board's public prayer.

Emmet County Commissioner and former Board of Health member Rich Ginop led the prayer at the opening of the Northwest Michigan Health Department's board meeting on April 4.
Emmet County Commissioner and former Board of Health member Rich Ginop led the prayer at the opening of the Northwest Michigan Health Department's board meeting on April 4.

Rev. Ryan Donahoe of the Presbyterian Church of Petoskey and President of the Northern Michigan Interfaith Common Ground was the first to comment.

"I come again to politely ask you to instead of doing a Christian prayer to open your meeting that perhaps you have a time of silence to respect people of all faiths in our community," Donahoe said to the board members.

He then invited all in attendance that "since you have prayed for our Christian prayer" to hear a prayer from our "Sikh siblings." Sikhism is classified as an Indian religion or Dharmic religion along with Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, according to Wikipedia.

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Larry Correll of Gaylord was next to speak. He commented that the United States is "mostly Christian" and encouraged the board to continue with the Christian invocation.

"We have been a country of 'we the people.' When we look at our history it has been predominantly Christian," said Correll.

He cited the Declaration of Independence's "three references to God" and the court system's use of pledges of "so help me God." Larry's wife, Amy Correll, also spoke in support of the Christian-oriented moment of prayer.

Stephanie Jacobson of Otsego County also appealled for the continuation of the Christian invocation, citing a study by the University of Houston in which the Bible was the most referenced book in the creation of government documents.

Luann McKinney from Antrim County's Milton Township commented in favor of the more generic moment of silence, saying "God has many names ... you can have a moment of silence where everyone can honor whom they wish."

As of publication, there is no change to the board of health's invocation process. Hankins added that "no one is required to pray" at the beginning of the board of health meetings.

Charlevoix County Commissioner and board member Joshua Chamberlain says he doesn't understand why the board's time is being occupied by religious discussion.

"We are supposed to be talking about health care and we are sitting here arguing about religion," said Chamberlain.

When asked about the relevance of the meeting's prayer, Rubingh — the board member who first proposed the invocation — said, "There are some people that struggle with some really big problems that the health department tries to deal with, like addiction and drug abuse ... it seems like asking God to help us try to help these people is a great place to start."

Otsego County Commissioners Henry Mason and Jonathan Turnbull were unable to be reached for comment before time of publication.

— Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northwest Michigan health board's meeting prayers draw discussion