(LifeSiteNews) — More than 100 Catholics and Protestants prayed and sang songs to express opposition to and make reparation for an invocation delivered by a “minister” of The Satanic Temple in west Michigan this week.
Faithful from across the area filled the boardroom at the Ottawa County Commissioners’ 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday. Many more stood and kneeled outside in the jam-packed entryway where they held Christian-themed flags and posters that read “My Jesus Mercy” and “Satan has no rights.” Their prayers could be heard inside the room as the individual gave his remarks.
Grassroots conservatives and Christians first started planning for the evening when news broke on March 21 that county chairman Joe Moss would not prevent a representative of The Satanic Temple from delivering his “prayer.” Moss told LifeSite that his hands were tied due to the new invocation policy he and his fellow board members revised last year. He also said the county would likely face a lawsuit if he acted otherwise.
Medical freedom activist Teresa Cichewicz, a local Traditional Catholic, coordinated with the America Needs Fatima organization to hold a Rosary Rally at the meeting.
“We thank the Mother of God for allowing us to pray uniformly with more than 60 Catholics the 15-decade Rosary outside the boardroom,” she told LifeSiteNews.
Cichewicz and her group sang Latin hymns, invoked the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and held a large banner that read “Satanism is part of the problem not part of the solution.” Several members addressed the commissioners later in the evening, primarily about the need to scrap the policy.
The four-and-a-half hour meeting began with Luis Cypher stepping up to the podium. Commissioner Jason Bonnema, who voted against the revised invocation guidelines last year, immediately asked Moss to have Cypher provide his real name, as Satanic Temple members use pseudonyms. Moss threatened to bring the meeting into recess. A frustrated Bonnema eventually left two hours later during the public comment session, during which time more than 45 people spoke.
With dozens of concerned citizens looking on and several media outlets turning their cameras toward him, Cypher began his remarks by asking everyone to reject “arcane doctrines” and to “embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old.”
Cypher, who was wearing a Satanic Temple pin as well as what appeared to be beads around his neck, closed his brief 2 1/2-minute remarks by calling on commissioners to “stand firm against any and all arbitrary authority that threatens the personal sovereignty of one or of all. That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise. It is done. Hail Satan! Thank you very much.”
Scant applause from what appeared to be less than 10 individuals could be heard in the room.
According to the Holland Sentinel newspaper, Commissioners Gretchen Cosby and Kendra Wenzel prayed silently during Cypher’s remarks. Commissioner Rebekah Curran gave protesters outside the room cookies with “John 3:16” stickers on its packaging before the meeting was brought to order. Curran was the first speaker during public comment, during which she said a prayer.
Later in the evening, commissioners approved a pro-life measure that appeared to be designed to temper blowback by showing that they still support traditional family values. Ottawa County is one of the state’s most religious and conservative areas. The global headquarters of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church in North America are located 30 miles east in the city of Grand Rapids. The two denominations also maintain colleges in the region. Moss’ political action group, Ottawa Impact, won a super majority of seats on the 11-person commission in 2022 by courting those Christians by running on an anti-woke, constitutional platform.
While some attendees and commissioners defend the County’s policy on libertarian grounds by arguing that the First Amendment requires speech that may sometimes be offensive, the majority of public comments condemned the invocation as a sorry excuse for legalized blasphemy.
“All power on earth, civil and religious, is given to men by God himself. And those men are expected, nay required, to use that power according to the will of the one who gave it to them,” graduate student Joseph Amoros said while holding a crucifix.
“The foremost duty of political leaders is to orient the social life of man to assist him in the salvation of his soul… you have all failed miserably in your primary responsibility,” he exclaimed.
Amoros further called on the commissioners to “make reparation” for the “unspeakable violation of justice” that they committed against the Kingship of Christ. He recommended they seek help from the local Catholic bishop to perform a consecration of Ottawa County to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The evening was a pivotal moment in west Michigan politics as prominent local leaders were in attendance and media covered it extenstively, thus making it something of a crescendo after years of infighting among conservative activists.
After an unceremonious dismissal as Ottawa County Administrator earlier this year, John Gibbs, a Traditional Catholic who ran for Congress in 2020, accused Moss of negligence and of being deceptive when it comes to threats of lawsuits. “Ottawa Impact commissioners have absolutely no clue what they’re doing,” he told MLive.com.
Others, like Brian Burch, a former local city councilman, posted on X last month that “Ottawa Impact commissioners enable, defend, and protect the rights of Satan over the protection of our souls. Stop this, you cowards. Satan has no place in Ottawa County or anywhere on Earth.”
Moss, who announced on April 16 that he is seeking re-election, told LifeSiteNews the board has no intention to revisit the policy and that overall Tuesday evening went “very well.”
“Members of the public were respectful and offered many positive comments, prayed, or read from the Bible,” he said. “We appreciate engagement from the community!”