A year or so ago, Pastor Gundy was giving the invocation before a city council meeting. The president of the city council turned off the pastor’s mic. The pastor sued the city and the case was resolved this week according to an article in the Jacksonville TU. The judge said that if city council presidents are arbitrarily restricting speech, it will be a problem. The judge seemed to indicate that Pastor Gundy merely went on too long and anyone’s mic would have been turned off under those conditions. Pastor Gundy chose not to present the evidence [of which there is ample] to show that the city council has at times restricted who gives the invocation based on the speaker’s religion.

If the city council continues to want invocations before their meetings, I hope atheists and other non-Christians will continue to apply. We shouldn’t be left out. Screenshots of the court’s conclusion in Gundy v. the City of Jacksonville:

I was keeping track of who the city council chose to give the invocation on my blog for a couple of years. If you’re interested, please check it out. I think the pattern does show the evidence that the city council has at times restricted who gives the invocation based on the speaker’s religion : https://uniteusdonotdivideus.com/category/invocations-and-jacksonville-information/

Link to the Webb’s invocation policy forced by an ACLU lawsuit that was mentioned in Judge Davis’s ruling in the Pastor Gundy case:
https://www.coj.net/city-council/docs/invocationpolicy.aspx

My understanding is that you merely need to contact Council Member Defoor’s assistant to be placed on the schedule to give the invocation. If that doesn’t work, please let us know. Contact info: 904.255.5160 bdame@coj.net