A group of faith leaders in Fayetteville are joining to hold prayer meetings in response to a crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the U.S.
The Rev. Sarah Milford of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Suzanne Bridges with Genesis Church, and Lowell Taylor, a local activist and organizer, stopped by the Carver Center to talk about the role of prayer, faith and religion during times of political turmoil.
Taylor tells Ozarks at Large’s Daniel Caruth that the so-called prayer guard is part of a larger national movement.
Lowell Taylor: In January, I got to go to D.C., where I attended a prayer guard meeting. That’s what they called it, prayer guard, and it was a way for people to pray for justice and peace and against state and community violence, including ICE.
So when I came home, I asked my pastor friends to host three prayer guard meetings in February, and some said yes. Pastors Jonathan of St. James, Suzanne of Genesis Church, and Sarah of St. Paul’s agreed.
Daniel Caruth: And so you guys are here with us this morning. Why did you agree to do this? What was the. How did Lowell convince you?
Rev. Sarah Milford: Yeah, well, you know, Lowell is a great friend of mine. And so anything good starts with relationships, right? But my why is, as an apprentice of Jesus, I am to love God with all my heart, soul and strength and to love my neighbors as myself. And Jesus also tells me to love others the way he has loved me.
And so to see on the news the deaths, the murders that have taken place, and all the violence that has happened that we continuously see, my heart is just full, and I definitely want to start in prayer.
Suzanne Bridges: Yeah. I would also add that the tension in the society around the nation, Northwest Arkansas is not exempt from that. And in any social justice movement, the faith communities have been that moral core and the backbone for keeping us on track and keeping us goodness and God as our North Star in that work.
And so when Lowell invited us to root any action that we take from here in prayer and to just kind of shower our community in this prayerful protection and keep us on the right track with moral integrity, I’m all in. And St. Paul’s is all in on that.
Caruth: Yeah. Well, I’m also wondering, you know, as people who are, you know, you have congregations, you have your entrenched in faith communities. What are you hearing from people in your congregations right now? I imagine it’s probably a tough time. There’s a lot of emotions. What do you hear from people and how do you bring up this topic to people in your in your community, in the congregation to talk about this subject?
Milford: Yeah, I hear a lot of fear. Just a lot of hurt, but mostly fear. You know, is my family going to be next? Is my coworker or their family going to be next? Who’s going to be next? And so, yeah, a lot of fear is what I hear mostly in our community.
Bridges: And aside from the fear from those who wonder about who will be next, there’s a lot of people wondering, like, where’s where’s the hope? How do I have hope in these dark times?
And so, you know, we just came out of the Christmas season, you know, when we emphasized that the light is not overcome by the darkness, as Lowell mentioned when we gathered to meet, that being a fundamental to our hope that light will not be overcome, that injustice for someone is an injustice to everyone.
And those kind of core principles are fundamental to our core values and our community. And I think that’s what binds us together. Whatever religion we are, whatever denomination we are, we have shared common values, and that’s what’s going to unite us. And we can come together in prayer and unity and hold that for all of us.
Milford: Yeah. I think the other thing to add to that is the question of what can I do, right? As always, the first thing that also comes up. And again, as an apprentice of Jesus, it starts for us in prayer, in prayer, and being led by the Holy Spirit with next steps of what to do next. But it starts in prayer.
Caruth: Yeah. And, Lowell, for you, I mean, convincing other faith leaders to come in and and to do this and to join you in this. I mean, how is that process, especially when it’s a topic, it’s political. I know I can imagine a lot of people may be in those spaces, don’t want to dip their toe into controversy, or don’t want to alienate members of their congregation. How is that process and how do you breach some of those divides, I guess?
Taylor: Yeah, that’s a good question, Daniel. I’m thankful for my friends. Suzanne. Sarah. Jonathan. Others who did say yes. I think we have said yes, because this isn’t about left and right. It’s not about red and blue. It’s about right and wrong.
You know, we’re praying for justice and peace. Dr. King said that peace is not the absence of tension, but the presence of justice. And so that does come with some tension to say that out loud. But that’s what I believe and why we want to gather to pray.
I love what Suzanne said about starting with prayer. We don’t want to stop with prayer. We want to continue to pray, to pray without stopping, but to do more than pray.
And so we hope at these meetings to introduce people to opportunities to continue or start to work with friends like Irvin Camacho, people like Sarah Moore, AIRE, Common Good. There’s lots of opportunities as we wait for the Lord in prayer to work with him for justice and peace in our community.
Caruth: I feel like maybe at this time a lot of people maybe are turning to churches and to religion to help them understand what’s going on right now, to help them come up with next steps or to find a hope. How do you help people do that? What ways do people turn to your church or to your congregation to help them cope when things seem out of their control?
Bridges: I think that St. Paul’s has been a big part in the Fayetteville community, because a lot of people who maybe aren’t churched or don’t feel like they have a church, St. Paul’s kind of becomes one of the community churches.
Not exclusively, but definitely some people say, you know, I don’t go to church, but when I do, I go to St. Paul’s. And I think it’s because we have an inclusive message of everyone is welcome, that love is the way of Jesus Christ, and we practice that way of love.
And so in times when people feel uncertain or afraid and are looking for hope, it ends up coming back to love. And I think in the Christian tradition, Jesus proclaimed that love most loudly and actively and brought together community.
And so when people are afraid, we especially need one another and to be united and together. We’re all in. Let’s do that together. And it doesn’t mean that everybody’s going to agree on everything in the community organizing that we’re doing.
We’re bringing together diverse groups, and it is our common values that unite us.
Milford: Yeah. No. That’s good, Sarah. I would just say too that in moments like this, complicit silence is complicity in moments like this.
And so again, as an apprentice of Jesus, speaking out and using my voice in a way that is encouraging to others and promotes hope and love, because I believe that Jesus is the answer.
And that cliche, but it’s not a cliché. It’s real. What would Jesus do? And so for those who are apprentices of Jesus, asking yourself what would Jesus do and being led by the Holy Spirit in that, in taking action. Because again, silence is complicity.
Caruth: All right, guys, so can you give us just the information about when these meetings will begin and what people should know?
Taylor: Yeah, Daniel, we’ve got the details. We’ll meet on Friday, Feb. 13, Feb. 20 and Feb. 27. So three meetings, all at 6 p.m.
On the 13th, we’ll be at St. James Church. On the 20th, we’ll be at Genesis Church. And on the 27th, we’ll be at St. Paul’s Church.
So three Fridays in February, all at 6 p.m. We’ll probably start inside and then go outside. So that’s the plan.
That was Lowell Taylor, Suzanne Bridges, and the Rev. Sarah Milford speaking with Ozarks at Large’s Daniel Caruth. The first prayer meeting is Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. at St. James Church in Fayetteville.
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