More than 50 people came together in Redlands on Tuesday afternoon, June 10, to pray — for the city’s public school leaders.
The crowd gathered under a series of white canopies, taking refuge from the 92-degree heat on the lawn of the Redlands Unified School District office. They sang and prayed for the Redlands school board to make choices that are inclusive of all students, particularly its LGBTQ+ community.
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“We will work with each other, we will work side by side,” the group sang. “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
Participants swaying to the music fanned themselves with rainbow fans and and held signs with messages about protecting LGBTQ+ youth and reminders that all people are the children of God.
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Pastors from eight churches in town were among those at the prayer session to ask school trustees to be welcoming of LGBTQ+ students.
“Take some space to remind ourselves that we are here fighting against a system of oppression and we are here fighting for the rights of human beings,” said Erika Ruiz, community organizing director for the Inland Empire Prism Collective, an Inland Empire-based LGBTQ+ community group that organized the vigil.
No school board members attended the vigil, but last week trustee Candy Olson, a member of the board’s conservative majority, said she doesn’t believe the board has done anything that harms the LGBTQ+ community.
The pastors, from some of the city’s oldest and newest churches, wrote a letter to the school board expressing concerns over its recent policies and discussions about LGBTQ+ students and the LGBTQ+ community.
The letter states that “all people are created in the image of God and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for all people.” It adds that the pastors support the right of “people of all gender identities to live free from discrimination, violence, and every form of injustice in our schools.”
Those concerns were repeated at Tuesday’s prayer vigil outside the district’s Lugonia Avenue headquarters. Pastor Craig Hadley, of Paradox Church, read the letter during the vigil. Several pastors shared a prayer with the group.
“Your gospel is not a weapon to harm and to hurt, but a resource,” Darrell Wesley, a pastor from First United Methodist Church of Redlands, said during his prayer. He asked God to grant the wisdom to show that his gospel was one that built people up and provided a place of strength.
“Because when we love one another we have shown our love for you as well,” he said.
Pastor Rachel Reeder, of First Lutheran Church of Redlands, prayed that the board would have wisdom and guidance as it considers two resolutions centered on racism at Tuesday night’s meeting and that it would move away from hate and dangerous rhetoric.
“To learn our history so we don’t repeat it,” Reeder said.
The board is scheduled to discuss two resolutions on racism. One would teach about “white supremacy and systemic discrimination” while the other opposes lessons that “promote division, collective guilt or racial stereotyping.”
The letter and vigil follow several board votes that critics say target the LGBTQ+ community.
The board is pursuing a policy to ban all but the American flag and military flags in classrooms. Some contend that the real goal is to keep pride flags out of classrooms. The board also has encouraged CIF to bar transgender athletes from sports that don’t align with their gender assigned at birth.
Abram Gastelum, operations director for the collective, said Tuesday’s vigil offered proof that having faith is not meant as an attack on the LGBTQ+ community and also showed a commitment to not let faith be weaponized anymore.
The pastors also plan to attend the 6 p.m. Redlands school board meeting to address school trustees and read the letter aloud to the public.
