From noon to 1 p.m. May 7, traditionally recognized in the U.S. as a national day of prayer, the Bethlehem Interfaith Group (B.I.G.) will hold an hour of prayer. Originally scheduled for Payrow Plaza, adjacent to the Bethlehem Area Public Library, the event will now take place online; however, the coronavirus pandemic and related business closures and job losses may make Bethlehem residents even more likely to take part in an hour of prayer.

“We wanted to do a day of prayer in solidarity with each other,” said Rabbi Michael Singer of Congregation Brith Sholom, “filled with hopefully a look forward to what we can do together as a community of faith[…] We want to put out a positive vision of what the world can be, despite all the adversity and challenges that we’re facing, we want to stand together and build our community together, and that’s why we’re working so hard to bring everybody together in the community.”

Each of the participating clergy will share a five-minute reflection and prayer with the other faith leaders via Zoom; individuals from the wider community will be able to see and hear the prayers via YouTube (https://youtu.be/QhsX9dq9QXc). The Rev. Anthony P. Mongiello, pastor of St. Anne Roman Catholic Church in Bethlehem, said all the different topics, “prayers for children, for those with addiction, for health care workers, for hunger injustice, for food insecurity,” are “applicable to the situation we’re in now with the pandemic.” Mongiello will be praying for those suffering with addiction. He remarked that he and the other participants are “looking forward to gathering people together, even though it’s going to be online, and just placing our prayers before God.”

Imam Beytullah Colak of the Respect Graduate School will share a prayer that combines a Muslim perspective with interfaith outreach. “I hope that all of us can draw a lesson from this extraordinary period of time,” said Beytullah, “so that we can have a brighter and more peaceful future all together after we overcome this.”

The Rt. Rev. C. Hopeton Clennon, pastor of Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, will offer a prayer for those experiencing hunger and food insecurity, issues that have only become more challenging during the current pandemic. “We have revealed a major dilemma,” Hopeton said. “Producers of food in agricultural areas have been accustomed to a particular delivery system that directed much of their food to restaurants, schools, and cruise ships. Each of those industries has closed, and it has been an unsolved challenge, how to reroute those delivery systems toward supermarkets and food pantries. It has just been heartbreaking to see eggs broken by the thousands, milk poured out by the thousands of gallons, and fruits and vegetables plowed back into the soil.” Hopeton will offer “a prayer for courage and ingenuity – for redirecting the food to where it is needed – and for compassion – understanding that hunger is not the individual’s fault or the family’s fault, but it truly is a scarcity of resources.”

The B.I.G. is a group of religious leaders from many faith communities in Bethlehem. In addition to Rabbi Singer, Imam Beytullah, Pastor Hopeton, and Father Mongiello, it includes Rev. Madelyn Campbell, Unitarian Universalist Church Bethlehem; Rev. JC Austin, First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem; Rev. Beth Goudy, Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley; Rev. David Brown, Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran; Rev. Dr. Pamela Payne, Trinity Episcopal Church, Bethlehem; Rev. Melissa Johnson, Advent Moravian Church; Rabbi Allen Juda, Congregation Brith Sholom; M. Said Selmanlar, Lehigh Dialogue Center; Rev. Dr. Stephen A. Simmons, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Honorably Retired; Rev. Cynthia Simmons, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Honorably Retired; Sister Bonnie Kleinschuster, School Sisters of St. Francis Bethlehem; Sister Virginelle Makos, School Sisters of St. Francis Bethlehem; Rev. Jennika Borger, Moravian College; Rev. Dr. Deborah Appler, Moravian Seminary; Rev. Giuseppe Esposito, St. Anne’s Catholic Church Bethlehem; Rev. Nina Patton-Semerod, Epworth United Methodist Church; Rev. Candy LaBar, Wesley United Methodist Church; Rev. Jennifer Nichols, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Moravian Academy; Lehigh Valley Friends Meeting (Quakers); Rev. Canon Dale Grandfield, Cathedral Church of the Nativity.

“Important aspects about B.I.G.,” explained Hopeton, “center on our willingness to embrace difference, our willingness to acknowledge difference, that we do not celebrate the same creed, or the same sacrament, or holy day; however, we can be respectful and supportive of each other. I believe if all of our religious entities were to narrow down a short list of words that we value, I think ‘hope’ might be on everybody’s list […] and that’s a major prescription for the global pandemic we are facing. If there is any way religious leaders can find it possible to model the gift of hope for our community, that will be phenomenal, and coming together on what is typically celebrated nationwide as a day of prayer, and for us to call it the Bethlehem Interfaith Hour of Prayer, is I think taking a step toward welcoming everyone and offering to everyone a gift of hope.”