The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to rule on a case involving a New York town's unusual prayer policy which was established by an appeals court in an effort to be "inclusive" of faiths other than Christianity.

Charisma News is reporting that Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to review a ruling by the 2nd Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in a case involving a New York town board which opens meetings with prayers offered by local clergy or other interested residents who are invited through a random selection process. Two residents, Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens, objected to the practice, calling in unconstitutional, and filed suit.

Galloway and Stephens lost in a 2010 federal ruling which held that the town's prayer practice was constitutional. They appealed, which led to the overturning of the lower court's decision by the 2nd Circuit.

However, the 2nd Circuit's decision involved much more than a ruling on the constitutionality of the town's practice. Because the town contains predominantly Christian clergy, the court asked that they invite non-Christians from neighboring towns to offer prayers in order to ensure that non-Christians don't "feel like outsiders."

“The Constitution has never required any local government to engage in such gymnastics to have prayer, as is clearly seen by the prayers of America’s Founding Fathers,” explained lead counsel and allied attorney Tom Hungar with the Washington, D.C., law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

“Those who offer such prayers have a right protected by the First Amendment to engage in speech of this sort that reflects their own religion and conscience. That does not make the prayers an endorsement by the town itself of any particular faith.”

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