Keeping "In God We Trust" & Invocation Statement Shared to OCBE

Orange County Department of Education, Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 10:00 a.m., 200 Kalmus Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92628Public Comments: 3 MinutesMembers of the Orange County Board of Education, my name is Pastor Jim Domen and I’m the founder of Church United in Newport Beach. Church United is an organization to help Clergy and the churches they represent deal with the spiritual problems facing our communities. I represent at least 200 evangelical churches in California and we partner with Catholics and Mormons in California.I am here today to support and encourage you on behalf of thousands and thousands of people to keep board meeting invocations and “In God We Trust” in the Orange County Board of Education chambers.“We the people,” of Orange County elected you to this office and “We the people” represent the “We the people” in the United States and California’s Constitutions.I would like to humbly share some of the phrases used in the United States Declaration of Independence prior to writing the Constitution: and I quote “Nature’s God,” and “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator.”California’s Preamble to the Constitution reads, and I quote: “We, the People, of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution.”Both the United States’ founding document and California’s preamble governing documents reference and acknowledge God. I would like to encourage this board of education to continue the tradition that began over 200 years ago and continues to this day; from the highest office in our country to the most accessible office in local, city government.On January 20, 2017, “We the people” will hear at the presidential inauguration a prayer/ invocation when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office, our country’s highest office - the presidency.Prayer begins each session of Congress: one prayer in the United States Senate and one prayer in the House of Representatives, every day they meet.Prayer also begins each session in the California legislature: one prayer in the Senate and one prayer in the Assembly, every day they meet.This historic and traditional practice occurs in every city in Orange County and almost all cities bear the phrase “In God We Trust” in their respective chambers.The Orange County Board of Education is in good standing historically, traditionally, and in practice with the rest of local, state and national government.And the phrase “In God We Trust” is on all of our currency: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars, fives, tens, twenties, fifties and hundred dollar bills.So on behalf of the people, clergy, and churches in Orange County, I humble submit that you continue invocations at the beginning of each board meeting and keep “In God We Trust” displayed in our board room – “We the People of Orange County.”Thank you.