Airport puts end to prayer services

Travelers leaving Jacksonville International Airport on a wing and a prayer better keep their prayers to themselves.

The Jacksonville Airport Authority established new guidelines last week on the recommendation of its attorney that put an end to daily prayer services that started at the airport after September’s terrorist attacks.

The authority also closed the chaplain’s office and forbade clergy volunteers at the airport from identifying themselves as chaplains.

Authority officials said people can pray all they want at the airport, but the authority can’t sanction or promote religious activity at the publicly owned airport terminal.

“As an agency, we can’t advance or inhibit religion,” JAA spokeswoman Laurene Carson said.