Thousands March for Equal Access Across the Brooklyn Bridge

Author: ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence

Thousands of Christians, pastors, other people of faith joined together last Sunday afternoon to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to express their opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s plans to evict the churches meeting in the public schools after February 12. People began gathering around 3:00 pm at Cadman Plaza Park, near the Brooklyn (southern) end of the Brooklyn Bridge. And they were a diverse lot. The Hispanic Pentecostal pastors arrived together wearing their distinctive white windbreakers. Pastor Dimos Salebarrios from Infinity New York Church in the Bronx brought many from his church that meets in a community center connected to a housing project. Pastors from the Park Slope area of Brooklyn and from lower Manhattan came with members from their church. But they were all dwarfed by the large contingency of Koreans who came from New Frontier Church in Chelsea. It was like a large number of reinforcements had come, like when the Elfish soldiers arrived at Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers to help the soldiers of Rohan. Reporters and television camera crews set up impromtu interviews all over the park.

Councilman Fernando Cabrera and several of the pastors held large yellow banners urging support for equal access to the government buildings, as they started down the hill towards the walkway across the Brooklyn Bridge. The weather was sunny but cool, and the winds picked up as we walked across the bridge. Curious joggers and strollers stopped to see this group chanting and holding signs saying things like, “Don’t Make My Church Homeless.”

The walk ended with a rally set up on a stage right next to City Hall in lower Manhattan. A worship band led everyone in Christian songs. People cheered as pastors and city councilmembers spoke about how the churches have been good neighbors meeting in the schools and have helped both the schools and people in the surrounding neighborhoods. One pastors explained how churches had preached the Gospel to gang members who came to Christ and left the gangs. Whether one agrees or not that people need to give their lives to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, all should agree that it is a good thing for the community when gang members leave their lives of crime and turn to become law abiding citizens. The pastors and politicians told more stories of churches aiding the poor, helping children with their studies in after school programs, etc. The government cannot duplicate with a tax-funded program a highly-motivated group of Christians that want to help their neighbors of the community where they meet. It does baffle me why Mayor Bloomberg and school officials would prefer empty school buildings to allowing these Christians to help the city.

For much of the march across the Brooklyn Bridge, I walked with Bob and Jeannie Hall, one of the pastors of Bronx Household of Faith, and his wife. They were some of the founding members of Bronx Household of Faith, who moved to the University Heights area of the Bronx 40 years ago to start the church. As we gazed across the many marchers in front of us passing under the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge, Pastor Hall commented that he never dreamed that his little church and the decisions that they made to pursue the lawsuit, would result in this effort that is affecting all of New York City. We are still praying that on Sunday, February 19, churches and other religious groups will still be meeting in the public schools of New York City.

This post originally appeared here.