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Judge Approves Prayer Settlement in Sussex County

Church and State, 123rf.com

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) - A federal judge has approved the settlement of a lawsuit challenging the recitation of the Lord's Prayer at Sussex County Council meetings.

In lieu of the Lord's Prayer, which begins "Our Father, who art in Heaven...," the council will recite the 23rd Psalm, which begins, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..."

The change from a New Testament prayer to an Old Testament psalm is outlined in a two-page consent decree approved Wednesday after council members voted 3-2 on Tuesday to approve the change.

The council reached the settlement with Americans United for Separation of Church and State after the judge ruled earlier this year that reciting the Lord's Prayer likely violated the First Amendment because it could be seen as government endorsement of a single religion, Christianity. 

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.