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eligible to be included in the Congregations List, and any such church, <br />congregation or religious assembly can confirm its inclusion by specific <br />written request to the Clerk. <br />C. The Congregations List shall also include the name and contact <br />information of any chaplain who may serve one or more of the fire <br />departments or law enforcement agencies of the City of Santa Ana or any <br />nearby military facilities. <br />4 i <br />. The Congregations List shall be updated, by reasonable; efforts of t <br />Police Department on a regular •. I <br />e. Within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this policy, and on or about <br />December 1 of each calendar year thereafter, the Police Department shall <br />mail an invitation addressed to the "religious leader" of each church, <br />congregation or religious assembly listed on the Congregations List, as <br />well as to the individual chaplains included on the Congregations List. <br />The invitation shall be dated at the top of the page and read as follows: <br />Dear religious leader, <br />The City of Santa Ana makes it a policy to invite members of the clergy in <br />the City to voluntarily offer a prayer before the beginning of its meetings, <br />for the benefit and blessing of the City Council. As the leader of one of the <br />religious congregations with an established presence in the local <br />community of the City of Santa Ana, or in your capacity as a chaplain, you <br />are eligible to offer this important service at an upcoming meeting of the <br />City Council. <br />If you are willing to assist the City Council in this regard, please send a <br />written reply at your earliest convenience to the Police Department at the <br />address included on this letterhead. Clergy are scheduled on a first-come, <br />first -serve, or other random basis. The dates of the City Council's <br />scheduled meetings for the upcoming year are listed on the following, <br />attached page. If you have a preference among the dates, please state <br />that request in your written reply. <br />This opportunity is voluntary, and you are free to offer the invocation <br />according to the dictates of your own conscience. To maintain a spirit of <br />respect and ecumenism, the City Council requests only that the prayer <br />opportunity not be exploited as an effort to convert others to the particular <br />faith of the invocational speaker, nor to disparage any faith or belief <br />different from that of the invocational speaker. <br />On behalf of the City Council, I thank you in advance for considering this <br />invitation, <br />M <br />