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61-408 Selectmen's Meeting Minutes September 27, 1999 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held on Monday, September 27, 1999 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building at 7:30 p.m. Chairman Enrich, Mrs. Eddison, Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. Abbott, Mrs. McKenna; Mrs. Crew Vine, Acting Town Manager; Mr. Cohen, Town Counsel; and Ms. Smith, Executive Clerk were present. Mr. Enrich called the meeting to order and indicated that the Board would be departing from the usual order of business to accommodate the schedule of Reverend Cohen who is here to review the recommendations of the Lexington Clergy Association concerning the display of the crèche on the Battle Green. There will be time after this discussion to hear from anyone who has an item not on the Agenda. Crèche on the Green Reverend Cohen explained the makeup of the Meeting Ground Committee that has been meeting over the past five months. The membership consists of three clergy, Helen Cohen of First Parish Unitarian Universalist, Chris Haydon of Trinity Covenant, and David O'Donnell of St. Brigid's; Howard Cravis of Temple Isaiah, Ingrid Klimoff of the Church of Our Redeemer, Michael O'Sullivan of the Knights of Columbus and Jonathan Doran of the Masons. Dr. Bernard Swain was hired to act as a facilitator to the group. The Committee, after much review, came to the unanimous conclusion that private citizens do have a right to have religious observances and displays on the common land within guidelines established by the town. The Committee then focused on the duration of the display on the Green and the hope that the group could reach a decision; however, Meeting Ground is unable at this time to propose a specific time period that everyone can live with. The Committee has, however, reached consensus on the following points: We embrace the growing religious diversity of our society as one of the great enriching features of American life in recent years. The U.S. constitution champions such diversity since, under the First Amendment, all religions are guaranteed the right of free religious expression; but no religion can enjoy the privileged status of government sponsorship. Public expressions or displays of religious beliefs on the Lexington Green are therefore constitutionally permissible when sponsored by private organizations. Therefore, the annual display on Lexington Green of a Christmas crèche owned and maintained by a private organization, the Ecumenical Committee, is appropriate. Those sponsoring such expressions or displays, however, also have a civic obligation to demonstrate their sensitivity to the beliefs and feelings of others in order to promote civic harmony. Therefore, during the 1999 Christmas Season, we recommend that the Ecumenical Committee should reduce its display of the crèche on the Green to a shorter period than in past years. We have not reached consensus on the specific length of time for that shorter period. We do agree, however, that the dates should not be chosen arbitrarily, but should be dates of some religious relevance to the observance of Christmas.