Prayer ruling goes to US Supreme Court

     RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina's Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling
that bars it from opening meetings with prayers that anyone could
lead but which consistently referred to Jesus Christ.
     The Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the county
commissioners, says the high court should decide whether public
bodies are required to find out in advance what will be said in
prayers that precede their meetings.
     In July, a divided Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in
favor of two Forsyth County residents who objected that the
invocations favored Christianity over other religions. The ruling
said such prayers must strive to be nonsectarian to signal welcome
rather than exclusion.
     Commission Vice Chair Debra Conrad told The Winston-Salem
Journal, "We have the right in this country to express our prayers
to the deity of our choice." She added that clergy of other faiths
were also welcome to pray however they wished.