Dear Evanston/Northwestern Friends,
I write on behalf of nine Evanston pastors who, in addition to our pastoral roles in our faith communities, are volunteer chaplains to the Evanston Police Department.
Our primary ministry there is prayer and presence to the police family which includes not only the officers and staff but their families. We attend roll calls on a rotating basis to provide support and prayer.
At the same time, we pray for all the people of the Evanston/Northwestern community, for your safety and welfare. We are also called upon to be a support and a ministry of presence for members of the Evanston/Northwestern community during times of crisis.
We, along with our colleagues in the larger Evanston faith community are aware of unrest locally and nationally concerning policing, and this in a time of a pandemic that has dislocated many lives.
We don’t presume to have the answers to the specific concerns that are troubling the community. For this we look to the wisdom, knowledge and good will of those more directly involved.
We stand united as an interfaith group, ready to listen and provide support, if that could prove beneficial. For our part, we encourage our Evanston/Northwestern community to engage in prayer, especially during this season of Thanksgiving.
Let us pray for leaders at every level, that they “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with their God.” (Micah 6:8)
Let us pray for those who are suffering from COVID-19, for front-liners and first responders, for nurses, doctors and all health care workers – many in our own community – who are daily sacrificing their own welfare for their neighbor.
Let us pray for our police officers who each day take a risk when they leave home to serve the people of our community; that they be sustained in mind and body and their spirits uplifted as they negotiate a troubling environment.
Let us pray for community members who lack a fair share in the goods of this richly diverse community, for those shunted to the margins, or excluded altogether.
Let us pray for one another that whatever our differences, we strive for the common good; that we walk lightly on this earth – our common home – and steward faithfully all that has been entrusted to us by the Holy One.
On behalf of Evanston Police Department Chaplains:
Joey Rodger, Reverend Phillip Bentley, Reverend Steve Durham, Reverend Evangeline Featherson, Reverend Garry Fraser, Elder Rodney Greene, Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein, Father Robert Oldershaw and Reverend Eliezer Tendero