A dispute over public prayers at town board meetings will be taken up by the Supreme Court in coming months , another contentious case over the intersection of faith and the public arena . The justices announced Monday the court will decide whether a New York community may continue what it calls `` inclusive '' prayers at its town board sessions . The petition will be argued later this year or early in 2014 , with a ruling ready by the spring . After the Greece , New York , Town Board 's policy was challenged because virtually all of those invited to offer prayers were Christians , the board for a time invited a few others , including a Wiccan , to offer invocations . But when that practice appeared to end , local citizens Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens sued . A federal appeals court found the board 's policy to be an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause , which forbids any government `` endorsement '' of religion . The town board then asked the Supreme Court to intervene . Galloway and Stephens say the board of the town outside Rochester almost always invited Christian clergy to open the meetings , usually with sectarian prayers . The plaintiffs said in court papers they were non-Christian and felt `` marginalized '' by the practice . Americans United for Separation of Church and State , the Washington , D.C.-based group that is representing the two women , cited records showing that between 1999 and 2010 , approximately two-thirds of the invocations contained the words `` Jesus Christ , '' Jesus , '' Holy Spirit , '' or `` Your Son . '' And the lawsuit claims that from 1999 through 2007 , every meeting had a Christian-only invocation . Following the complaints from the plaintiffs , four other faiths were invited in 2008 , including a Baha ' i leader and a Jewish lay person . Galloway and Stephens say the Christian-only invocations resumed from January 2009 through June 2010 . The plaintiffs then launched their legal fight , saying those invited to the monthly meetings were selected by a city employee from a local guide that had no non-Christian faiths listed . `` A town council meeting is n't a church service , and it should n't seem like one , '' said the Rev . Barry W. Lynn , AUSCS executive director . `` Government ca n't serve everyone in the community when it endorses one faith over others . That sends the clear message that some are second-class citizens based on what they believe about religion . '' While the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York last year unanimously ruled against the city 's policy , other courts around the country have found such invocations -- if inclusive and limited in scope -- to be permissible . The U.S. Congress regularly opens its sessions with a prayer . Friday 's invocation by House Chaplain the Rev . Patrick Conroy began : `` Loving and gracious God , we give You thanks for giving us another day . Help us this day to draw closer to You so that , with Your Spirit and aware of Your presence among us , we may all face the tasks of this day . '' Forty-nine members of Congress , mostly Republicans , along with 18 state attorneys general have filed supporting legal briefs backing the city . The Alliance Defending Freedom , a `` legal ministry '' based in Scottsdale , Arizona , filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Greece Town Board , saying the Supreme Court has upheld the practice of government bodies `` to acknowledge America 's religious heritage and invoke divine guidance and blessings upon their work . '' `` A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they did n't like , '' said Brett Harvey , an attorney for the group . `` Because the authors of the Constitution invoked God 's blessing on public proceedings , this tradition should n't suddenly be deemed unconstitutional . '' But the 2nd Circuit appeals court concluded Greece officials were not diligent enough in efforts to find a more diverse set of voices from other faiths to open the public sessions , suggesting `` a single religious sect '' was being advanced . The high court is now being asked to offer more firm guidelines over when and if such public prayers are constitutionally acceptable . The case is Town of Greece , N.Y. v. Galloway ( 12-696 ) .
A New York community has what it calls `` inclusive '' prayers at its town board sessions . Some local citizens sued and a federal appeals court found the policy unconstitutional . `` A town council meeting is n't a church service , '' the legal group backing the citizens says . `` A few people should not be able to extinguish '' the nation 's traditions , the other side says .