Pastors Pray for Lawmakers Ahead of Special Legislative Session

Christian advocates call for wisdom, commonsense gun reform

A group of Tennessee pastors affiliated with an advocacy group known as the Southern Christian Coalition visited the state capitol today and offered prayers for lawmakers as a special legislative session on public safety is slated to begin.

"Remind us as we go forward and put one foot in from of the other that justice takes time and that this journey doesn't happen with an event. It happens with a collective of diversity, equity, and inclusion and let your justice roll down like a mighty river this morning and may it be evident that You are present and you keep your promise that you will never leave or forsake us," prayed Rev. Stephen Handy, Pastor of McKendree United Methodist Church. "May we not just pray with our mouths and minds but that we pray with our feet, that we allow those who are in the way to get out of the way so that YOUR word may be evident." 

Rev. Fernando Garcia, Assistant Chaplain at St. Augustine Chapel in Nashville, reminded the gathered crowd, "We will plant the seeds of love and justice... to build that community that we know is possible; a community free of violence and free of the cult of the gun." 

The group called on lawmakers and advocates alike to focus on God's gifts.

"Help us remind those legislators and all present here that we are an internal enduring gift of God and that our lives deserve to be protected as such," prayed Chaplain Dahron Johnson. 

Pastors and policy advocates pray at the Tennessee State Capitol, August 21, 2023Photo bySouthern Christian Coalition