The City Council in Wadena, Minn., voted unanimously Nov. 10 to no longer place a nativity scene in a public park after getting FFRF letters of complaint. Wadena, a city of about 4,000 residents 160 miles northwest of Minneapolis, annually placed the nativity in Burlington Northern Park.
“The city’s display of a Christian message in the city’s premier park unmistakably sends the message that the city endorses the religious beliefs embodied in the display,” wrote Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott in the first letter to the city last January.
Mayor George Diess told KARE News that “when something is put up that many years, it becomes a tradition to the city.” Board members expressed concern about a potential lawsuit.
The council meeting was packed with backers of the religious display. The city will turn it over to a ministerial association.
