The Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners approved a policy Wednesday to allow people to say a prayer at the start of their general meetings.
The vote was four-to-three in favor of starting the meetings with a religious invocation.
The discussion drew a large crowd of people who disagreed with the decision.
Ted Iorial, from Traverse City, was one of the people against the policy.
“And you can see a lot of people here are not happy with it. These are people you represent. It’s so divisive to throw this on the table as you start a new year out. We live in a country where the culture is so divided. We don’t need it on the local level.”
From now on, the board will ask if anyone in the room, of any denomination, would like to say a prayer.