Lord’s Prayer No Longer Banned After Council U-Turn

A funeral celebrant was reprimanded [the week of October 11] by a local council for allowing a grieving family to quietly recite the Lord’s Prayer during a funeral service. Now, following a U-turn from the council, the crematorium has once again been allowed to permit mourners to say the Lord’s prayer after coronavirus regulations were ‘clarified’.

Alison Davies, 53, from Bridgend, South Wales, was left in tears after she was told she was breaking Welsh government covid rules for allowing so-called ‘chanting’ during a funeral service she was conducting at Coychurch Crematorium.

Now, thanks to support from the Christian Legal Centre, she is free to lead mourners in reciting the Lord’s Prayer at funerals.

In a statement released [October 16], Councillor Richard Young, Bridgend County Borough Council’s cabinet member for communities, confirmed that reciting the Lord’s Prayer is now allowed, and said that they “were previously not aware that these regulations were open to interpretation.”

The heads of council-run Coychurch Crematorium in Bridgend had claimed that if more than one person prayed, then it counted as ‘chanting’ and wasn’t allowed.

Mrs Davies said the family of a 94-year-old grandmother whose funeral she was conducting this week had asked her to end the service with the Lord’s Prayer. Just as the funeral service finished, in front of mourners in the Christian chapel, Mrs Davies was approached by a Bridgend council official wearing a mask and blue surgical gloves tell her that she had broken the guidelines. Mrs Davies claims the official aggressively pointed his finger at her, exclaiming, “you can’t do that!”

The story broke in the media and sparked outrage across the country, leading the Welsh government to clarify that praying in a ‘low tone’ does not breach coronavirus rules.

Councillor Young said: “We were very surprised to see the Welsh Government’s media response contradicting our approach.

“We very much welcome the additional clarity, which now permits a number of people to pray out loud at the same time.”

https://christianconcern.com/news/lords-prayer-no-longer-banned-after-council-u-turn/