WALHALLA - Oconee County Council's plan to say a prayer before meetings is unacceptable, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union says.

Council Chairman Frank Ables said at a meeting last week that the county is looking for a list of ministers from churches throughout the county who would say a prayer before the official start of meetings.

Neil Caesar, a Greenville attorney and a member of the ACLU board of directors, said he communicated several problems with the council's solution to county attorney Brad Norton.

Caesar said any prayer activity before the meeting would be unacceptable if it "endorses a particular religion or displaces anyone who came early to get a seat."

Since 2005, the ACLU has challenged the County Council and the Seneca City Council over sectarian prayers.

That was when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the town of Great Falls, which was ordered by a lower court to stop using the name of Jesus in prayers to start Town Council meetings.

Seneca Mayor Dan Alexander said the City Council has taken no action on the prayer issue.

"What I remember from last year, they (ACLU attorneys) said the county solution would be OK," Alexander said. "I'm surprised, based on comments made last year, they would challenge the county's plan. Where does it stop?"

Caesar said one solution would be a moment of reflection.

"A number of jurisdictions reflect on why they are there to do the government's business," Caesar said. "The government should not stick its nose into issues that divide a community."

Neither council has a meeting scheduled before the end of the year.

The Rev. Wayne Morton, president of the Oconee County Ministerial Association, says the County Council will fight to keep its prayer.

"We're quite prepared in this part of the world to let the ACLU know ? that their interruptions, their badgering of small communities stops right here," Morton said.