WWJP - Where Would Jesus Pray ?

Circles of Prayer
Christian group, Abilene Interfaith Council gather at separate sites to pray for city, country

By Brian Bethel and Jerry Daniel Reed / Reporter-News Staff Writers
May 6, 2005
One group consisted of people of various faiths. Another was comprised of Christians only.
But together they lifted their voices in prayer for the well-being of the nation and the city they all call home.
The annual National Day of Prayer was observed in communities across the land Thursday. But the observance in Abilene differed from years past when one service, featuring Christian pastors, was held on the lawn in front of City Hall.
This year, the Abilene Interfaith Council proposed one large service featuring representatives from all the faiths represented on the council, including various Christian traditions.
But Pray Big Country, comprised of local pastors, already had a service planned. The Christian group opted to move from its traditional site at City Hall to Everman Park in the downtown area.
About 80 people crowded around the front of Abilene City Hall to participate in the Abilene Interfaith Council's ceremony, while about 200 gathered in Everman Park for the Christian-based service.
As the sun peeked occasionally through the clouds, those of varying faiths gathered at City Hall offered hope for peace and understanding between all creeds.
''Oh God, kind Lord, unite all. Let the religions agree, and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home,'' said Sammie Garza, a member of the Baha'2/3 Faith.
Archana Patel raised her voice in a Hindu prayer, a flowing melody of tones that composed, in her words, ''a prayer for the whole world, not just the human beings, but for every small life that we see.''
The day was peaceful, although a small group of young people wearing ''Jesus Crew'' T-shirts passed out Bible tracts and did not participate in a second part of the ceremony, in which those who gathered symbolically broke bread together.
The Abilene Interfaith Council started five years ago when the originators decided to invite one person of another faith to lunch regularly. The group now has about 100 people on its mailing list, said the Rev. Roz Thomas, associate rector of the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest and a founder of the AIC.
A few blocks away from the City Hall gathering, about 200 people filtered into Everman Park to hear eight Christian speakers intercede on behalf of the city and the Abilene area. They prayed for families, soldiers, government leaders, educators and students.
With occasional shouts of ''Amen!'' and ''Yes!'' and with arms uplifted while singing praise hymns, the crowd required little encouragement from the speakers to participate.
The Rev. Scott Beard, pastor of FountainGate Fellowship, seized on the park's fountain as a symbol of the blessings and spiritual revival that he invoked for Abilene.
The Rev. Chuck Farina, pastor of New Hope Assembly, forthrightly asked for material blessings for the city and its neighbors.
''We call in economic development to the city,'' he said. ''(God) wants to bring prosperity to the righteous.''
Unity lies within reach, but only through God, said the Rev. Kelvin J. Kelley, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church.
''Unity cannot come unless His kingdom comes,'' Kelley said.
The National Day of Prayer was established in its current format in 1952 by congressional proclamation and signed by President Harry S. Truman.
Contact staff writer Brian Bethel at 676-6739 or bethelb@reporternews.com.  Contact staff writer Jerry Reed at 676-6769 or reedj@reporternews.com.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_3756681,00.html
---------------
Praise for event
May 7, 2005

I am a Christian who attended the National Day of Prayer celebration on the steps of City Hall, hosted by the Abilene Interfaith Council. The meeting was respectful, positive and worshipful. Prayers for community peace, unity, harmony and mutual understanding, as well as for the cessation of war, care for the environment and wisdom and protection for our elected leaders were offered to God by representatives of 10 diverse faiths or denominations in our city. Sharing bread together with these persons who come from different cultural and religious backgrounds, yet who equally desire that freedom, justice and well-being be experienced by all our citizens both nationally and locally, was a meaningful way to conclude this genuinely hopeful program. To characterize the Abilene Interfaith Council or those who identify with it in a negative way is unfortunate. They have demonstrated a love for all. They are inclusive. Their very organizational motto centers around peaceful conversation. I know these people personally and appreciate them immensely, and there is not a militant extremist among them!
Rob Sellers
Abilene
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/article/0,1874,ABIL_7984_3759004,00.html
-----------------
Prayer Day divided our community
By Ken Ellsworth
May 8, 2005
Two groups met at noon Thursday in Abilene to celebrate the National Day of Prayer with prayer services.
But they did not pray together. They prayed apart, sadly separated, it seemed to me.
The separation caused me to wonder.
If it is true that a ''family that prays together stays together,'' could it be applied to a community? ''The community that prays together stays together.''
Probably not, and it's probably not necessary. That may be why Abilene has hundreds of churches. People like to pray with kith, kin and kind.
I attended some of each service Thursday.
One group met at Everman Park, drawing about 200 people. It was exclusively Christian, in fact, evangelical Christian. The service was organized by Pray Big Country, a group of local pastors.
The other group met in front of City Hall. About 80 attended. Its participants included people of the following faiths: Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Unitarianism. This service was organized by the Abilene Interfaith Council.
The Christian service began with praise songs. Many participants raised their arms in the air, palms up as if they were receiving love radiating down from the heavens. This was not the kind of worship service that I grew up with. The music was unfamiliar and accompanied by guitars and percussion.
I grew up with J.S. Bach fugues played on church organs. It was inspiring. I'm not sure praise service music is as good. For me, trading in Bach for praise music might be something akin to trading in Shakespeare for comic books. Maybe I'm an old fuddy-duddy. Well, there's no ''maybe'' about it.
There were some speakers. Most emphasized their belief that the only path to salvation is through Jesus and that other faiths are in error.
I see how people can think that way, but I am usually thinking more like this: ''In matters of religion, the only absolute wrong is to believe without doubt that you are absolutely right.'' But that sort of thinking could be wrong.
One pastor recalled the visit to Abilene several years ago of a Buddhist monk. The monk blessed the city during a ritual. The pastor on Thursday hinted that the Buddhist blessing might have brought bad things to Abilene, including the drought.
I don't know how the pastor can believe that. I'm quite sure it rains in Buddhist countries.
At City Hall, the atmosphere was much different. People of different faiths and denominations offered prayers. For me, there was warmth to it.
It was lovely to watch people of obviously different faiths hugging each other, sharing each other's humanity and the need of most to believe.
At the end of the ceremony, loaves of bread were passed out to symbolize that we all can sit down and break bread together regardless of our differences. Almost everybody had a bite.
At the back of the crowd 10 or 12 young people wore shirts that said ''Jesus Crew.'' I had seen the same shirts earlier at Everman Park.
For some reason, those young people refused to participate in the breaking of the bread. They weren't obnoxious about it. In fact, they were polite. They just quietly turned away.
I don't know, but I think Jesus would have had a bite.
Contact Ken Ellsworth at ellsworthk@reporternews.com or 676-6777.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_lc_columns/article/0,1874,ABIL_8856_3761552,00.html