NEWTON, N.J. (RNS) For nearly 60 years, the town council here started its meetings by reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Council members felt the passage gave them guidance and inspiration.

That tradition ended recently after the council’s attorney advised members they should heed a request by a resident, an avowed atheist, to stop the practice.

Doug Radigan told the council at its Dec. 22 meeting the prayer was too Christian and was offensive to him. He asked for a secular replacement.

Council members said they were saddened-but not really surprised-they had to end a tradition begun in 1952.

“It’s not a surprise, but I’m disappointed that we had to cave into this or we would’ve been open to a lawsuit,” said longtime Councilwoman Thea Unhoch. “You can’t even say `Merry Christmas’ anymore.”

Radigan did not return calls for comment.

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said the number of U.S. communities that use Christian prayers, especially the “highly Christian” Lord’s Prayer, at government functions is slowly diminishing.

“If you’re going to a meeting to talk about potholes or cable TV, non-Christians feel like they don’t belong there,” said Lynn, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.

In a series of decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the religious prayers recited at government functions are in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“The more sectarian, the more likelihood it will be found unconstitutional,” Lynn said.

While the Lord’s Prayer tradition has officially ended in Newton, the council has informally agreed to start reciting secular invocations prior to its meetings, said Unhoch, who was pleased that the tradition of a prayer of some sort will continue.