In Minnesota, once-ecumenical Day of Prayer festivities are now by evangelicals, for evangelicals

In late March, Gov. Pawlenty signed a proclamation that a “Day of Prayer” be observed in Minnesota on Thursday, May 1. Pursuant to the proclamation, Pawlenty will gather with other elected officials and faith leaders on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol Thursday afternoon to pray for Minnesota and America. But  this event will be missing a few persons of the cloth — essentially, everyone except evangelical Christians.

The list of attendees:

• Minister Dan Hall of the Midwest Chaplains, an evangelical group
• Governor Tim Pawlenty, who has been an evangelical for some 20 years
• Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, an evangelical Lutheran
• Evangelical Christian and former Minnesota governor Al Quie
• Cathy Jo Severson of the Minnesota Christian Leaders Network, a group looking to “legislate the Kingdom of God”
• Clarence St. John, superintendent of the Minnesota Assemblies of God Church, an evangelical denomination
• Lee Buckley, the governor’s advisor on faith, is a member of the evangelical Progressive Baptist Church in St. Paul
• Pastor Bill Goodwin of Lighthouse Community Church, an evangelical church
• Evangelical Pastor Bob Battle of the Berean Church of God in Christ
• Pastor Pat Hall, of True Light Church, which is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church of America
• Chaplain Aaron Dogotch of Capitol Ministries, a national evangelical bible study group for politicians.

Religious right groups will round out the thoroughly evangelical character of the event. John Helmberger, chief executive officer of the Minnesota Family Council a group dedicated to preventing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Minnesotans will be there, as will Scott Fischbach, executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, a anti-reproductive rights group.

The Honorable Chris Dietzen, of the Minnesota Supreme Court, will be at the Day of Prayer. His evangelical credentials are murky, but he was a featured speaker at Minnesota Family Council’s legal training: “The Separation of Church and State Myth, Judicial Impeachment, and Bias in the Judicial System.”

And that leaves lonely Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. He may or may not be an evangelical, but it doesn’t appear he ever talks about it.

Continued: Click “read more”“The National Day of Prayer” had its origins in a bill signed by President Harry S Truman in 1952 declaring an annual national day of prayer. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law an amendment that set aside the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer. The professed idea was to bring Americans of diverse faiths together.

In 1988 Reagan said, “On our National Day of Prayer, then, we join together as people of many faiths to petition God to show us His mercy and His love, to heal our weariness and uphold our hope, that we might live ever mindful of His justice and thankful for His blessing …the citizens of this great nation to gather together on that day in homes and places of worship to pray, each after his or her own manner, for unity of hearts of all mankind.”

How did an event that originally began with the intent of creating unity among Americans of faith become an event for an exclusive group of Christians? Focus on the Family’s Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson, heads the task force that organized the Day of Prayer at the Minnesota Capitol.

In 2002, Sharon Auldrich received a personal call from an aide to Shirley Dobson asking her to coordinate Minnesota’s Day of Prayer event. Dobson runs the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a national coordinating body for day of prayer events at state capitols. The task force has its offices in the headquarters of Focus on the Family.

Auldrich must have done something right, because Dobson has very strict guidelines about who can be a coordinator and who is invited to speak.

Coordinators are required to sign a statement of faith:

I believe that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of The Living God. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation and have an ongoing relationship with God. I believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles, the atoning work of his shed blood, his resurrection and ascension, his intercession and his coming return to power and glory. I believe that those who follow Jesus are family and there should be unity among all who claim his name. I agree that these statements are true in my life.

They are also required to only allow Christians to run the show: “I commit that [National Day of Prayer] activities I serve with will be conducted solely by Christians while those with differing beliefs are welcome to attend.”

Auldrich has remained true to her pledge. “It’s a Judeo-Christian observance, and people of other faiths who ask about participating are encouraged to set aside their own day of prayer,” Auldrich told This Week Online in 2006. In other words, if you are not an evangelical, you can go hold your worship somewhere else.

Prayer Transformation Ministries, a group that helped organize the prayer event at the Capitol for a number of years, was up-front about its Christian-only policies. “It’s definitely from the standpoint of offering our prayers to God through Jesus Christ,” said Associate Director Carol Madison. “We’re very clear we believe in raising up the name of Jesus.”

A Jewish First Amendment watchdog group, Jews on First, is taking matters into their own hands and organizing Inclusive Prayer Day events around the country. From their website, “In some cities supporters of religious pluralism and the First Amendment choose to ignore the occasion, because it has been hijacked by a religious right group that excludes clergy and leaders representing Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, and even moderate evangelical Christians.”

There are no Inclusive Day of Prayer events listed for Minnesota, but the Minnesota Atheists will be hosting a Day of Reason at the Minnesota Capitol during the Day of Prayer.

Jews on First says the true meaning of the Day of Prayer has been lost. “What began as President Truman’s declaration of a National Prayer Day for all Americans is now excluding and dividing us on religious lines,” the group said.

Photo via Midwest Chaplains