2020 National Prayer Breakfast

Pastor Stephanie was invited by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, IL-14, to be her guest at the 68th annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.. On Sunday, March 1, Pastor Stephanie shared her thoughts on the experience during an Adult Education class. She has this to say about her presentation:

Figuring out how to talk about this event publicly and privately has been difficult. I think that difficulty comes through in this video. My presentation felt disjointed to me because the whole event felt disjointed in some ways. There were times that I was encouraged by bipartisanship. There were times when I felt like I had unknowingly agreed to attend a campaign rally. There was solid teaching on how to live the gospel in the public sphere. There was judgement of the sincerity of others’ faith that tore at the unity the event attempts to promote. On my personal blog I described my experience as spiritual whiplash.

It was a challenge to put together a presentation that editorialized just enough, but not too much. I hope I found that sweet spot. To do so, I decided to rely heavily on the speakers’ own words and video clips from the National Prayer Breakfast. You can watch the event in its entirety a number of places on-line; I used the C-SPAN footage in my presentation. I wanted this presentation to inform those who were curious, pose questions for people of faith about the role of faith in the public sphere, show some of the challenging moments that made this Prayer Breakfast unique from others, and share some of the highlights from my perspective.

I would be happy to have further conversations with anyone who is interested in hearing more or exploring some of the questions and topics covered. Grace and peace to you.