 |
Jim Wallis
The Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus told his disciples to regularly pray, is the most common prayer offered in our churches today. We recognize these words when we hear them in our houses of worship and pray them in our own households, with our families, and privately in our hearts. Many of our traditions include The Lord’s Prayer each Sunday, and it is likely being repeated more and more often during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as congregations meet virtually.
As President Trump has said he’d like to see “packed churches all over our country” on Easter Sunday to help him reopen the country and restart the economy, which he apparently thinks will help him get re-elected, we need the words of the Lord’s Prayer more than ever. The call to reopen comes despite the exact opposite instructions from health care professionals, along with governors and mayors across our nation, to maintain our social distance and closures until the dangers of this modern plague are past us. Trump’s reckless invitation to take our worship and prayers back into our churches before it is safe to do so is not only monstrous political irresponsibility, but religious sacrilege.
I predict that legions of pastors, priests, and lay church leaders will ultimately ignore Trump’s alarming advice, instead continuing to take their faith and worship virtual for the sake of healing the nation. Sojourners supports you in publicly saying “no” to Trump’s dangerous call — we've been collecting resources and guides to help you and your congregations gather safely. And we’ll be offering more opportunities to reach out to each other and speak out against reckless leadership in the coming days.
|
ADVERTISEMENT |
 |
Our Latest
To be church is to be the body of Christ in the world.
The outbreak of the virus and the outbreak of racism toward APIA communities are spreading together.
We can make radical change more quickly than we imagined. COVID-19 and climate change demand nothing less.
Lecrae and Pastor Terence Lester teamed up to build portable hand-washing stations.
|
ADVERTISEMENT |
 |
From the Magazine
The shoreline of a former nuclear site collapsed into the Detroit River — and barely anyone noticed.
|
ADVERTISEMENTS |
|
Want to support free and fair elections? Rick Steves - activist, travel writer, and host of Rick Steves’ Europe on public television - has generously offered to match all donations to Sojourners up to $50,000 in support of our voter protection program. Donate today and have your gift doubled!
We must all work to protect the rights of Americans of all religious backgrounds. This benefits us all. The No Ban Act would repeal the Muslim ban and prevent future administrations from issuing a similar one.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment