By Brooke Stevenson
brooke@seymourherald.com    
Several hundred people congregated around the Sevier County Court House Monday evening to join in prayer.
     The gathering was led by New Center Baptist Church pastor Tony Sutton in the effort to support the County Commission’s practice of the Lord’s Prayer, which has recently been challenged.
     “We’re not trying to shove religion down anyone’s throat. We’re not trying to impose on anyone. We’re not trying to pass a law,” Sutton told the crowd. “We’re just here to pray.
     “We’re here to show our support for what we believe in.”
    The gathering came two months after Americans United, a Washington based group, questioned the constitutionality of the commission’s opening prayer.
     Pastor Ron Reagan of Gum Stand Baptist Church offered a prayer while the hundreds who gathered joined him in voicing their own prayers as they lined the sidewalk, many holding hands, completely surrounding the court building.
     Later that evening at the Sevier County Commission meeting County Mayor Larry Waters voiced his appreciation of the gathering.
     “It means a great deal to me personally and to the members of this commission to see the people of Sevier County stand up for what they believe in,” he said.

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