The first annual Nativity Lighting Ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol will be held this morning (Monday) at 10 a.m. in the first-floor rotunda. Gov. Terry Branstad will welcome guests and Bishop Richard Pates of the capitol’s Des Moines Diocese will address those gathered. The celebration is privately sponsored and has been brought about through organizers’ work with the American Nativity Scene Committee and the Thomas More Society, which offers pro bono legal services to citizens and groups interested in placing nativity scenes in any traditional or designated public forum. “The nativity scene in the rotunda represents constitutionally-protected free speech and expression of religious faith by private citizens in a traditional public forum,” said Tom Brejcha, President and Chief Counsel for the Thomas More Society.
