The prayer before an Austin City Council meeting will no longer be just about a prayer, Mayor Steve Adler said Tuesday.

It may be a poem. It may be a few minutes of meditation. It may be a moment of silence.

In a message board post to his council colleagues, Adler said he has been thinking about the invocation given before each council meeting and gathering the views of others about the practice. As a result, he said, he no longer wishes to require a standing invocation, but to adopt a more broad ritual.

"I've asked the (city clerk) not to limit our opening moment to prayers, but also to include opportunities for short poetry, meditation, moments of silence, etc.," Adler wrote. "We will still be together quietly and thoughtfully, but we will see if we can get and maintain attention while staying in our seats."

Austin has long been inclusive as to who it allows to offer the prayers that begin meetings. In 2017, the invocation came from a priestess from Tejas Web, an "eclectic ecofeminist Witchcraft community." In 2016, a representative of the Satanic Temple was scheduled to appear, but backed out.

In the last year, the council has heard prayers from Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Baha'is, Pentecostals, Seventh-Day Adventists and representatives of the Texas Army National Guard and the Shambhala Meditation Center.

Adler said on the message board that he would hate for someone to walk into a single council meeting, without context, and think the members are endorsing a particular religion — or religion itself. Thus, he will introduce each speaker with a disclaimer, of sorts, explaining the goal of the ritual.

That statement will explain the council's custom is to "start our meetings with a peaceful moment by inviting different people from walks of life and different faiths to share their prayers or moments of reflection," Adler wrote. The introduction will add that the custom is a way to "begin our meetings with everyone focused and aligned for the greater good."

Adler also made clear what the invocation will not be: a time for music or comments about city business.

"There are dedicated times for both of those activities on the City Council agenda," he wrote.