The pastor hopes her church’s stand for peace will inspire others to do the same as the voting results come in.
is just steps from the Pennsylvania State Capitol . Between the two buildings, the church recently installed a pole. It reads: “May Peace Prevail on Earth.”It was done to commemorate the International Day of Peace last month. But also “in recognition of the political climate that we’re in,” said the Rev. Anna Layman Knox, the church’s pastor.
During a recent Sunday service, Layman Knox asked congregants to pray for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and to be mindful of their words. Wearing a stole in the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ+ flag, she said, “We pray for our nation in our division and our hope.” After their demonstration at the Capitol rotunda, the interfaith group — including rabbis, priests and imams — walked across to Grace Church to share a meal and plan how to peacefully fight against the looming threats.
“I fear that there will be violence, and I hope that there can be unity,” said Carly Wolf, 23, a Grace Church member and a college senior majoring in justice studies. She was outraged when she recently learned a“Regardless of the election results, the protests at the capitol need to be peaceful,” she said.
Since the early 19th century and throughout the Civil War, there were efforts to return the capital to Philadelphia. The pressure increased after a “There has been historically this profound connection between what it means to be a church and what it means to be an advocate and to be engaged politically in the community,” Layman Knox said.
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