Tucson churches show unity for National Day of Prayer

The thousands expected to gather in the Tucson Convention Center arena for the National Day of Prayer are following in Father Kino’s footsteps.

Organizers with Christian nonprofit 4Tucson and the Arizona National Day of Prayer hope anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 people will assemble Thursday evening for prayer, worship and the premiere of a 30-minute film chronicling Tucson’s Christian heritage, along with an appearance by Mayor Jonathan Rothschild.

“The intent of the film is to explore our history and the legacy of people who have impacted the fabric of our city as it is today” and to inspire future action, said Evan Grae Davis, the director of the film “A City and a Church Rise Together.”

Those people include the Rev. Eusebio Francisco Kino, the Rev. Oliver Comstock Sr., the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Josephine Hughes, among others.

In the film, 14 local artists share work inspired by the faith stories of these historic Tucsonans. Elizabeth von Isser, for example, painted a white peony with splashes of scarlet on the petals to represent Comstock’s work with tuberculosis patients. Elmer Yazzie depicted the Sisters of Carondelet rising from the ground, reaching toward heaven.

“I wanted to capture the grandeur of the Southwest and the Sonoran Desert,” said Domingo DeGrazia, a Spanish-style guitarist who composed an original song for the film. “I wanted to have a little bit of lament and yearning, certainly something to capture the struggles Father Kino would have had.”

DeGrazia’s father, the late artist Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia, was known for his paintings of Father Kino, who is credited with introducing the Christian gospel to the region.

A corresponding book of these stories should be published this fall.

United for Tucson, along with the film, is meant to inspire attendees to pray about what to “ask God for Tucson’s future, based on how he has prompted people to act in the past,” said Brian Goodall, the director of 4Tucson’s prayer domain and one of the organizers of United for Tucson.

The free event transcends denominations and congregations on a scale that local faith leaders say they have not before seen. Goodall noted that unlike other Christian conferences and concerts with big names attracting a diversity of denominations, the only draw to United for Tucson is a desire to pray for the city.

This is perhaps the biggest public event hosted by 4Tucson, an organization founded by The Oasis Church pastor Mark Harris more than five years ago to unite Christians for the benefit of the city.

“Most churches look at their purpose to serve the people that go to the church,” said Harris, executive director of 4Tucson. “They don’t look at the purpose that they exist for the city.”

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With a background in starting local churches, Harris saw individual lives changed through new congregations, but he rarely saw that improve larger problems facing the community. Through prayer, he realized change would require mobilizing individuals, engaging the whole community and crossing denominational lines.

So 4Tucson identified 22 areas of focus, from poverty to education to water, and began encouraging laypeople and churches to become educated and involved in community issues. Some of 4Tucson’s projects so far include connecting churches to schools to help with clean-up or refurbishment and working with the Arizona Department of Child Safety to improve child welfare, Harris said.

“They’re looking to do good in the sense of working to end homelessness and assure kids are in school and basic values of society are taught to children,” Rothchild said.

About 4,000 Christians are involved in more than 50 projects so far.

“We’re trying to get people to pray for our city, fall in love with our city and join other Christians in finding real, lasting sustainable solutions to some of the problems,” Harris said. “We’re trying to be the catalyst to make that happen.”

United for Tucson is the biggest display of that thus far, bringing together congregations that might normally host individual National Day of Prayer gatherings.

“There is a movement happening,” said Glen Elliott, the lead pastor at Pantano Christian Church. Elliott, who has been at Pantano for 18 years, will lead prayer at the event. “When I first came here, I couldn’t get pastors to talk together. That is changing. I feel like I’m watching something historical happen in Tucson, and I’m not one for overstatements.”

The Rev. Lois Blei, Arizona’s director for the National Day of Prayer, said she knows of nothing to this scale happening anywhere else in the state.

Sound, lighting, facility use and parking are costing the two organizations about $20,000. Attendees pay nothing, though donations are being accepted to cover the price tag for the volunteer-run event, Goodall said.

As of now, there are no plans to make this a tradition, he added. Instead, organizers hope laypeople catch their vision this time around.

“We’re citizens in Tucson who happen to be Christians, and we care about our city,” Harris said, pointing to historic predecessors as an example. “We are willing to come serve because our mandate is to love God and love people.”