Wicomico County Council Officially Discontinues Lord's Prayer at Council Meetings
Wicomico County, MD - The Wicomico County Council has officially announced the discontinuation of the Lord's Prayer at the opening of its meetings. This decision follows consultation with legal counsel and what has been stated as constitutional law.
Council President John T. Cannon made the determination after receiving guidance regarding federal court rulings on council-led sectarian prayer.
According to a statement released by the Council this morning, January 14, 2026, the United States District Court for Maryland and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has established precedents ruling against such practices.
Legal counsel advised the Council that challenging these precedents would likely require litigation reaching the U.S. Supreme Court level. The advice indicated there was no reasonable expectation of success within the Maryland courts or the Fourth Circuit.
The press release stated that the issue originated after a council member read scripture from a Bible during legislative meeting comments. Those statements that are being referred to, we believe, were made on September 16, 2025 by Wicomico County Council Member James Winn, in response to the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Councilman Winn is a devout and proud Christian who was exercising his right during a time allotted for Council Comments, to basically make a stance for the community coming together, similar to what we saw and referenced on September 11, 2001.
Subsequently, the Council states that as a direct result, they received multiple letters threatening litigation, including three letters of demand from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
(Note: Eastern Shore Undercover has submitted a PIA Request to the Wicomico County Council in reference to these letters and hope to obtain those in a short period of time).
The press release continues by stating that following discussion and legal review, President Cannon determined that no viable alternatives existed that would not expose the county to significant legal risk and expense.
The County Council confirmed that it had successfully maintained a long-standing tradition of opening prayer at the Council Meetings and stated in the press release that they regret the position the county has been placed in pertaining to prayer at the Council meetings. The Council has blamed continued pressure and the threat of litigation for the reason for this outcome.
As a result, Council President John Cannon concluded that reciting the Lord's Prayer posed an untenable legal and financial risk. The press release states that the Council's attorney has released a formal legal opinion outlining the constitutional basis for this determination however we have not reviewed that opinion.
