January 6 anniversary vigil calls for Christians to remember and respond

An interfaith prayer vigil lamenting and commemorating the January 6 insurrection called Americans across the religious spectrum to resist the attacks on democracy and social justice anticipated during the second Donald Trump presidency.

The fourth annual “Faith in Democracy” vigil was held at Reformation Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C., and was hosted by the Franciscan Action Network in partnership with Faith in Peace Concerts and Sojourners. Baptist, Catholic and Muslim leaders spoke and prayed about the growing threat to democracy resulting from the 2021 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Music was performed by Washington Douglass Chorale.

“So, why are we here again? We are here again because the wound of January 6 has not healed. The polarization persists. Politically motivated violence is still happening and there are strong concerns about the health of American democracy and about our civil liberties,” said Sister Michele Dunne, executive director of Franciscan Action Network.

In the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, people of faith must cultivate inner peace and reflect on the importance of promoting decisive, nonviolent approaches in a divided nation, she said. “We want to remember the need to preserve and improve our democratic system, to ensure that all voices are heard and that the rights of all of our neighbors are protected, especially the rights of our neighbors who are most vulnerable and marginalized.”

David Searby, director of Faith in Peace Concerts, recalled the first vigil on Jan. 6, 2021, when 25 participants gathered just below the U.S. Capitol on the National Mall to pray and sing, an act that astonished onlookers who assumed it was unsafe to be anywhere near the site of the anti-democracy riots.

“I think we showed them that people who have a good message are going to be smart but also not be afraid to share that message,” he said.

That night, the Capitol dome represented the city on a hill Jesus described as the light of the world, he added. “Four years ago, many people of faith waved Bibles as they tried to put out that light to tear down that city. They failed, but the struggle continues to tell history, to tell our story as it really happened. The light may still be extinguished if we do not work to protect it, if we don’t fight fire with light.”

Prayer is a critical need for those experiencing food insecurity, gun and hate-motivated violence, for homeless people and immigrants, said Bishop Julius Trimble, general secretary for Church and Society for the United Methodist Church.

“We must commit ourselves not to ignore the need for support for all those persons who now face forced deportation,” he said. “And while the incoming administration beats the drum of mass deportation, we must demand bipartisan work on comprehensive immigration reform and recognition that the language of mass deportation literally means family separation.”

“The language of mass deportation literally means family separation.”

The demand for justice must always include the spiritual dimension, Trimble added. “I’m a firm believer that with little prayer there’s little power, and with much prayer, there is much power to engage in conversation and collaboration, power to organize and support policies that address civil and human rights for all God’s children, and the power to reject Christian nationalism and theological tribalism.”

Religious freedom must be included in any movement seeking justice, fairness, equality and national unity, said Imam Talib Shareef of Masjid Muhammad, the nation’s mosque in Washington, D.C.

“We say ‘E pluribus unum — out of many, one.’ This is where God wants us to get to. So, we are here as people of faith today extending an invitation to respect and embrace our shared identity as humans and as Americans, to stay on the course of civic duty and to value our intrinsic nature to live together intelligently,” Shareef said.

Leslie Copeland Tune, chief operating officer of the National Council of Churches, said she was reassured to see so many gathered for the vigil and to know God is encouraging God’s people through the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.

“In my (Baptist) tradition, that memory actually fuels our faith and reminds us that regardless of what we see in front of us, that we stand on God’s shoulders and that he has brought us through before and will do it again,” she said. “I don’t want to over-spiritualize it — there’s been some trauma in our nation and in our lives — but I want to prick your heart and your spirit and your soul to remind you that others have gone through this (political and social turmoil) before.”

She expanded on the appeal in her prayer: “God, we are listening. We are watching. God, we are watching to see where you are going to show up. We are watching to see how you are going to use us. We are making ourselves available to you, to be used, to be your hands and feet in this world.”

The aftermath of the 2021 attack was traumatic on a physical and emotional level, added Jeanné Lewis, CEO at Faith in Public Life.

The assault “disrespected the promise of the democratic republic that is the United States of America, the promise that was made by our ancestors to each other and to us, the promise that inspired so many of our ancestors and so many of our neighbors to come to this country, the promise that created a pathway to correct the injustices of chattel slavery and colonization,” said Lewis, who is Roman Catholic.

A shared mission across religious traditions is to live with an intense commitment to strengthening and protecting democracy and to resolve differences peacefully, Sojourners President Adam Taylor said.

That also requires belief in democracy, he added. “Having faith in democracy means we are committed to protecting our fragile democracy so we can ultimately transform it in ways that make the promise of liberty and justice finally become real for all Americans.”

Faith and democracy also require honesty, Interfaith Alliance President Paul Raushenbush said.

“I invite us to keep our eyes open, to look around and to trust who and what we see. For beware, even as we commemorate the insurrection of January 6, we are being told by too many that what we saw was not what we saw, and that what we know is not what we know.

“They are trying to lure us with propaganda, a poisoned songbook designed to invite us to sleepwalk in lockstep as our hard-fought democracy becomes as a forgotten dream,” he said. “In defiance, we keep our eyes open and call upon all that is sacred to keep us alert, alive, awake. We are called to the watchtower to stand guard and cry out, ‘Warning!’”