Prayers and petitions

Some lawmakers' offices have received faxed petitions asking members to reverse what critics call a ban on "the forbidden name of 'Jesus'" during prayers in the state House.

Earlier this week, House Speaker Joe Hackney named a committee of legislators to review the guidelines for prayer in the House chamber after a guest chaplain complained he was asked not to refer to Jesus.

Rev. Ron Baity of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem said he declined to give a nonsectarian prayer at the opening of the House session in late May. He gave the prayer he intended to give, but was then told his services were no longer needed, Baity told media outlets.

Hackney's office received a 180-page faxed petition filled with signatures of people who say a prohibition on prayers "in Jesus name" is unconstitutional.

"Jesus is not an illegal word, the Bible is not a banned book and evangelistic speech is not a crime," said the letter, signed by Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt of The Pray In Jesus Name Project, a Colorado-based group.

Hackney spokesman Bill Holmes said at least one other House member had also received the fax.

The eight-member bipartisan committee will review guidelines for prayers in the chamber. Each day's session typically begins with a nonsectarian prayer from an invited House member or volunteer member of the clergy.