How did Sunday service go post-attempted assassination?

Church leaders are grappling with the idea of unity after the attempted assassination against former President Trump.

With a country divided in political discourse and banter, pastors across the nation took it upon themselves to figure out how to heal this national divide; many said to pray for a less divided country.

On Saturday night, former President Trump was the target of an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. By Sunday morning, many showed up to church with concern over the country, fear of safety, and in need of prayers.

Pastor Jim Harper III of the Thomas A. Edison Congregational Church felt that it was necessary to bring up the attempted assassination in Sunday’s service.

In pastoral prayer, he said, “[God] We pause to say our prayers for those caught up in violence, domestic violence, neighborhood and urban violence, and especially those most recently that were the victims of violence in Pennsylvania yesterday. Violence has no place in your kingdom, God, especially political violence.

“We really believe in prayer as an opportunity for us as people of faith, to find hope and energy, and also some type of centeredness in things that you really can’t find centeredness in,” Pastor Harper said. “This latest occurrence of violence that happened in the political realm with the attempted assassination of former President Trump, but also included that there were innocent civilians, that were also either. One gave his life trying to protect his family, and the other two ended up just being innocently picked.”

He continued, “We want to know, where is God? And that’s a big question, especially when traumatic events like this happen.”

Another church Pastor, Marcelo Guidi of the Cape Christian Center, decided not to discuss the assassination on Sunday morning.

“I think that when we do that when we talk about politics in the church and with the pope before that, we lose credibility,” Pastor Guidi said.

Instead, Pastor Guidi made a lengthy social media post.

Both pastors said church members reached out when the shots rang out.

“I was talking to a veteran, and just the sound, the gunshots, just learned him to something that he had suppressed. And it was very hard,” Pastor Harper said.

“I received several messages from the members expressing their concern about what’s going on in the country and saying that we need to come together and pray,” Pastor Guidi said.

With political polarization, how can this nation heal?

“We can pray, and we can motivate and we can, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, you can vote,” Pastor Harper said. 

He continued to say, “Our vote is for the type of world we want to live in, not necessarily the one we’re living with right now. We need to be able to sit down and have those holy conversations without the vile and without incrimination and without name calling and without violence. We really need that. If we are going to find any common ground.”

Both pastors had strong messages.

“It doesn’t matter where your political party but just to come together and go to god and pray for unity because that’s exactly what we need for this country,” Pastor Guidi said.

 “Our prayers are with everyone that was there that witnessed it. And now everyone that’s witnessing it through different camera lenses,” Pastor Harper said.

Pastor Harper said when writing prayers, he has a bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. When asked why, he explained that he is able to better write to how is members are feeling.