A long line of community leaders, including Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and Chattanooga Police Chief John Chambers, paraded behind the Brainerd High School drummers into the Orchard Knob Missionary Baptist Church fellowship hall. The church hosted a back-to-school prayer rally.
“We’re not politicking, we’re praying,” said the church’s pastor, Rodney Morton. “Who comes to a prayer meeting and not pour out their heart? That’s the easiest way to see where a person’s heart is. You know, there’s no agenda for your reelection campaign, even though you may be running for reelection.”
After liturgical prayers for students, Wamp rose from his seat and used his minutes at the microphone to pray for a sense of unity throughout the city when it comes to caring for the children in public schools.
“These are children who are not numbers, but they are people who you have written a story for, who you have placed a teacher in a classroom for, who you’ve brought us here to pray for,” Wamp said, with head bowed and eyes closed. “I pray that all across this big county you will give a spirit of unity, kind of like the one at this church today. That when schools from across this community meet on the playing field, when in the classrooms, there would be a common purpose developed. That these children would know that they are loved and they’re cared for by people in the classroom all the way to churches and to government buildings, Lord.”