WATCH — ‘How Much God Do You Need?’: Prayer Proposal Triggers North Carolina School Board Member

A North Carolina school board member became upset after a Christian board member suggested on April 14 that leaders adopt a prayer before their meetings.

The exchange happened during a Cabarrus County School Board of Education meeting when board member Melanie Freeman made the suggestion regarding prayer, Fox News reported Tuesday.

“I respectfully make a motion to include an invocation to our agenda and meetings moving forward,” Freeman said to other leaders.

However, fellow board member Pamela Escobar shared her disagreement with the idea, and her comments brought criticism online.

“If you put prayer at the beginning of this meeting, I don’t think that’s a welcoming sign to the people who are in this room tonight,” she said in reference to the diversity at the county’s schools. She also said the board is not “in the business of faith and religion” but is there to teach students. She also said board members pray before every meeting and they are free to be part of it or not.

“How much prayer do you need? How much God do you need?” she questioned. “We say, ‘Under God.’ We say it. Why do we need to say more”:

When Escobar mentioned that some of the board members pray before their meetings, she said, “You have an invocation that is outside, and it’s led by a lobbyist with Capital Ministries.” Escobar noted she did not feel welcome to pray with that group even though she is a Christian.

Escobar then mentioned a Mr. Marshall of Capital Ministries who prays with school board members. The ministry’s website said, “Inspired by the command to share the gospel with kings and all in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2; Acts 9:15), Dan Marshall serves as Ministry Leader in Concord, North Carolina, ministering to local public servants through weekly, in-depth discipleship Bible studies.”

Social media users were quick to comment on the clip of Escobar’s comments, one person writing, “Wow! How much prayer do I need? I’m told to pray unceasingly. Therefore, I must need a lot.”

“We cannot pray enough, America has turned it’s back, collectively, on God for far too long and it is the main reason America has spiraled downward to begin with,” another user said, while someone else commented, “Praying for her.”

Readers can watch the full board meeting here:

In her response, Freeman, who ran for the school board as a conservative Christian, said, “The prayers of the people have always been for people, not against people,” adding that it would be more transparent to pray in the meeting room than in the hallway as they have done.

According to the Fox article:

The board passed the motion, in a 5-2 vote, to have a policy committee draft a written policy for the prayer. The board will then read the policy and give the public an opportunity to comment before implementing the policy. The policy would most likely entail inviting outside clergy to lead the prayer before meetings to avoid potential litigation concerns, an attorney for the board said.

Freeman told the outlet most municipalities across her county do have an invocation, noting that “our schools and indeed our nation need direction and wisdom like never before and I don’t know a better source for that than God.”