Interfaith Alliance Interfaith Prayer Event

On Monday evening, March 30, 2020, at 5:00 p.m., The Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma will hold an Interfaith Prayer Event at www.facebook.com/InterfaithOK. Participants at this Facebook Live event include representatives from as many of the Oklahoma faith groups as possible. All Oklahomans are invited to join in helping, supporting, and respecting all of us as we deal with this disease crisis, and help set the pattern of human interaction for events which inevitably lie ahead of us.

In this time of a monumental, life-changing health crisis, Governor Stitt issued an official proclamation asking that Oklahomans “of all faiths and religious backgrounds . . . pray for God’s blessing, protection, and strength” in dealing with this challenge. He asked, as our Governor, as the Chief Executive of our state government, that we come together to do this. He has recognized previously that Oklahoma is blessed with a great diversity of religions, faith traditions, and philosophical beliefs, and that a relationship to a divine power is not unique to any one religion.

Unfortunately, the event they carried out in the name of the Oklahoma State government excluded many, if not most, Christian denominations, and ALL non-Christian faiths.This excluded 35% of the Oklahoma population, saying, in effect, “Oklahoma does not need your prayers.” We of the interfaith community see this as divisive, not unifying.

This exclusionary faith activity even runs contrary to the Governor's own messaging at his Prayer Breakfast, whose proceedings opened with an inclusive video that portrayed Jewish, Muslim, and Native American faith leaders, along with a diverse representation of Christian denominations.

Therefore, the diverse Oklahoma interfaith community is presenting a truly interfaith event of prayer and/or reflection, brief offerings focused on the spiritual and emotional support helpful to all of us in dealing with this increasingly devastating disease crisis.