Loveland Community Prayer planned for Wednesday, June 17

Local Branches Church pastor organizing a public prayer event to be held in Nisbet Park Amphitheater

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (June 14, 2020) — George Floyd died an awful death when a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee down on Floyd’s neck until he could no longer breathe.

That knee to the neck of George Floyd slammed hard into the heart of Desmon Gault. Hurt and angry that excessive police force had taken the life of another black man, Gault turned to God in prayer seeking answers. Then he walked. At first Gault walked alone on the streets of Loveland where he lives, then his family walked with him, and then large numbers of the Loveland community: black, white, men, women, city leaders, church leaders, firemen, and police joined him as the crowd swelled to 200 or more. They met Gault in the parking lot at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and prayed with him before walking unified in peace through different parts of Loveland each evening.

Gault said God instructed him to walk for seven nights. He fulfilled that promise. After the seventh consecutive night of prayer and a peaceful unity walk, he promised it was a beginning. Loveland leaders like Branches Church Pastor Shane Harden planned to meet and decide what would come next to continue a movement of unity in the Loveland community and beyond

On Saturday, June 13, Shane Harden, Branches Church pastor announced a community prayer event in Loveland to continue the journey to unite people in the Loveland community. Harden organized the event and invites the public to join this Wednesday evening June 17th. He is asking the community to gather (park your cars) at Kiwanis Park off of Wall Street beginning at 7:30 p.m. From there, people are asked to join together to walk across the bridge on W. Loveland Avenue and into the Nisbet Park Amphitheater for the prayer gathering from 8-8:30 p.m.

“We’ll be praying in Nisbet Park,” Harden wrote in his announcement of the plan for the community prayer event, “for God’s plan versus ours, for our role in our community, and inviting others to go on this journey.”

Nisbet Park Amphitheater where community prayer event is scheduled (FILE) 

Harden also invited the community to join in a “community fast” for the city on Wednesday.  He cited scripture from 2 Chronicles 7:14 from the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible: “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

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Graphic provided by Branches Church – Shane Harden