Tampabay: Amid war, a time of prayer

Iraq

Amid war, a time of prayer

Religious leaders in the bay area differ on the validity of the war, but all support turning to God with prayers for troops.

By CHRIS TISCH, SHARON TUBBS and KEVIN GRAHAM

Pastor Scott Boggs asked his congregation if it was right for Christians to wage war.

Yes, yes, yes, responded the crowd at Northside Baptist Church in St. Petersburg.

Boggs asked: Should Christians support the intentional infliction of violence? Fewer yeses from the congregation.

Should Christians support a war that results in the deaths of innocent Iraqis? Near silence.

Tough questions, Boggs told worshipers.

Ideas on how Christians should relate to war resonated in worship services throughout the Tampa Bay area on Sunday, the first Sabbath since the war in Iraq was launched Wednesday.

But varying messages from the pulpit suggested that religious leaders' have conflicting views on the war.

At Spirit of Life Unitarian Universalists Church in Odessa, Pastor Carole Yorke said during her sermon that the first day the United States dropped bombs in Iraq was "a day of mourning."

"I cannot remember another time in my life when I was so conflicted," Yorke told her congregation, which sat outside under a shed, out of the rain. "Could there be any evidence that this is a just war?"

Connie Goodbread, director of religious education at Spirit of Life, said the adults in the congregation weren't the only ones looking for reassurance that the war was justified.

"Even the children tend to be skeptical and question the moral and ethical sides," Goodbread said. "There's lots of shades of gray here."

Boggs, meanwhile, urged his church to support the war. While the Bible teaches individuals to turn the other cheek and to avoid violence, he said God also authorized just governments to seek justice and freedom for their neighbors.

"The Bible tells us there are times when God approves of government's use of force," Boggs said.

He said pacifists underestimate the evil roaming the world and shirk the responsibility the United States has to help the oppressed and the needy.

"America for many years has fought to free people," he said.

With a large American flag draped on the wall and several in the audience wearing red, white and blue, Boggs choked back sobs and wiped tears from his eyes during his sermon. Many in the congregation, which has dozens of families with loved ones overseas, also wept.

Boggs said to fail to end terror and oppression is to forget all those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and to trample the graves of soldiers, pilots and sailors.

"Not only is there a courage in attaining peace," he said, "but there is a nobility in securing other people's freedom."

Local religious leaders also urged churchgoers to seek comfort in God during troubling times.

Said United Methodist's Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher: "In the midst of the increasing international polarization over the appropriateness of this war, Jesus' words teach us that our church sanctuaries are houses of Christian hospitality."

Christopher asked that her statement be read during services Sunday to the Methodists' 36,000 congregations.

"We are at a time of war within our world," said the Rev. Myles Dowdy, a banner of the American flag acting as the backdrop for his pulpit at First Baptist Church of Brandon. "Yet, we need to be reminded that there is never a crisis bigger than our God."

The church's parking lots and pews were packed Sunday as Dowdy reminded believers to teach those who are in despair to look to God. First Baptist is one of the largest Southern Baptist congregations in the area, with about 4,000 names on its rolls.

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the country with more than 16-million members, has backed the war, its leaders calling the action a necessary last resort.

Other mainline denominations, such as the Roman Catholic church, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church, have either opposed pre-emptive strikes altogether or urged President Bush to be cautious while praying for a swift end to combat.

Other churches have been holding special services to pray for the safety of troops and of the Iraqi people. Pasadena Community Church, for instance, had a candlelight prayer service focusing on the war Sunday evening.

The Rev. Clifford Melvin said that no matter what Christians believe about the war, they should pray for peace, for the safety of American soldiers and Iraqis and for the wisdom of our leaders.

"In this time of crisis," he said, "let's remain committed to prayer."