FFRF wrote to the Gilmer County Senior Center in Glenville, W. Va., twice to ensure that employees of a state-funded senior center would not engage in unconstitutional pre-meal prayer.
A community member informed FFRF that Gilmer County Senior Center employees had been leading Christian prayers during lunch. The complainant reported that the senior center felt more like a church than a senior center, and due to this religious environment, they have been afraid to raise their concerns with staff directly.
In response, the executive director wrote back, saying that “the seniors that come into the Gilmer County Senior Center want to have prayer before lunch.” Prayers were scheduled at 11:30 if “anyone wants to participate.”
“While we appreciate that you have indicated the employees will cease leading prayer, the senior center cannot have any involvement in lunch prayers,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote in a follow up letter. “It cannot help seniors who wish to have a collective prayer to impose a group prayer on those seniors who don’t want to pray. Seniors are free to pray to themselves before lunch or whenever they please.”
After receiving the second letter, the director noted that the senior center would comply with the Constitution. “I have taken the prayer post down. My employees will not lead any prayer while they are on company time,” they wrote.
