Screen capture from CNN.com
Racial turmoil in Baltimore commanded the nation’s attention April 27-28.
“While we watch on the screen and read what is happening in Baltimore,” Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said, “we need to pray for our pastors and churches in Baltimore as they rise up together, calling Baltimore to a better way to live personally and collectively.
“This better way is God’s way, the Gospel way,” Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, said in a statement to Baptist Press. “In this critical hour in our nation, the greatest hope for Baltimore and for all of America is a mighty spiritual awakening.”
Rioting, looting and arson broke out in Baltimore after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American who died of a spinal injury while in police custody 15 days earlier.
The tumult reflects the various cultural crises America faces, from race relations to whether same-sex marriage will be legalized nationally. The Supreme Court hears arguments today on the latter issue, which also has garnered the prayers of countless Baptists and evangelicals. Internationally, rescue crews are searching for survivors in Nepal of an earthquake and aftershocks that have claimed at least 4,000 lives.
In Baltimore, dozens have been arrested and injured, including more than a dozen Baltimore police officers.
Frank S. Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, in comments about the upheaval in Baltimore, called on Southern Baptists to pray for the city. “Specifically, I ask us to pray in earnest for the ministers of the Gospel who are standing in harm’s way trying to provide spiritual leadership in a divided city.
“But let’s also pray for the Gray family in their grief as well as the police officers who were wounded by a lawless group who took advantage of the situation,” Page told Baptist Press. “Pray for peace in Baltimore and, yes, justice for all those who have broken the law. It is a very sad day.”
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SOURCE: Baptist Press
Art Toalston
