The Annual Iowa Prayer Breakfast
And the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa counter programming--All are Welcome in Iowa...
(Paid subscribers will find the link to today’s Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Office Lounge at noon at the bottom).
On Thursday I went to the 63rd Annual Iowa Prayer Breakfast at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention in Des Moines. From their website:
For 63 years, The Iowa Prayer Breakfast has hosted Iowa’s Governor along with hundreds of legislators, business, and community leaders. This annual gathering unites Iowa’s Christian Community in prayer for our State and its leadership.
This sign told me I would be welcome, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t request a press pass, and I never pay to get into events like this I’m covering for news. I just want to watch. If they wanted to kick me out, I would been disappointed, but I would have understood.
The place was packed. Over 1,300 people—not only was there a waiting list for general admission—there was a waiting list for SPONSORS! Someone apparently didn’t get the Donald Trump memo to milk every possible cent you can out of everyone around you.
Much to my delight, I was met with open arms by the entire staff of the Iowa Prayer Breakfast. They made me feel important. In effect, they said:
Hello stranger, welcome! Let us make you comfortable, and please have a seat at a table among our friends and neighbors. Are you thirsty? Want some water? Let us quench your thirst. Are you hungry? Let us feed you. Let us comfort you. Do you need a press pass? Here you go…
I knew the breakfast was nonpartisan, and saw friends and acquaintances of both parties breaking bread. This is a good thing, I thought. I waited to watch Governor Reynolds speak because given her anti-LGBTQ+, immigrant, and public school efforts this legislative session, I was doubtful she could make it through her speech without getting political.
But she did.
I left early, but I felt good about the event. Welcomed. Comfortable. Optimistic. Until I saw this in the parking lot when I left:
Which of course, suggested to me that many, if not a majority of people at the prayer breakfast were white “Christian” nationalists quite happy with the dismantling of democracy, and the oppression of minorities—which is, of course, the Republican agenda.
From Axios.
This brought to mind images of Trump hawking Bibles during Holy Week to help pay for his legal defense. I’m old enough to remember what the word “sacrilege” means. Putting the U.S. Constitution in the same binding as the Bible is an affront to many Christians.
As is an image of Trump sitting next to someone’s depiction of Jesus as what appears to be a man of Scandinavian descent. I don’t believe Trump actually saw this image before he (his staff) posted it on “Truth” Social. If he had seen it, Trump would have instructed the artist to make him taller than Jesus.
I was a little late getting to the Capitol for the Interfaith Alliance’s “All are Welcome in Iowa” counter-programming. Actually, a lot late. A few people were still milling about (here is WHO-13’s coverage of both events). I managed to talk to Connie Ryan, Executive Director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa about the event:
Connie, what was the purpose of the event this morning?
Well, two-fold. One to encourage folks to continue to use their voices against the extreme legislation that we have been seeing, not only this year but for many years coming from the Republicans in the legislature, but also today is the prayer breakfast hosted by the Governor. And so we really wanted to counter what would be heard at the prayer breakfast and the extreme agenda that the governor has had, and so we wanted to provide a balancing voice that said all are welcome in Iowa.
Here are a couple of photos from the “All are Welcome in Iowa” event, from the Interfaith Alliance Facebook page.
While I had missed most of the event, like a good reporter, I knew if I dug in hard enough, I could find something worthy of sharing while a few people remained. I looked around to find someone else who would talk with me. I saw a young trans woman in a lovely print shift walking away holding flyers in her hand. Thinking back, her shift may have been hand-sewn. I wondered what she was sharing with the flyers, and I approached her and started a conversation. She looked a little bent, worn, and worried—her posture of a woman much older than her age. I think I startled her. Sometimes I forget that big old white guys can be intimidating given that so many big old white guys are assholes. Especially at the legislature.
I asked her about the handout, and she stood taller, smiled at me, and handed me one.
What fun! Creatives being creative.
I then thought back to the welcome I was given at the Iowa Prayer Breakfast and wondered if she would have received the same reception I had:
Hello stranger, welcome! Let us make you comfortable, and please have a seat at a table among our friends and neighbors. Are you thirsty? Want some water? Let us quench your thirst. Are you hungry? Let us feed you. Let us comfort you…
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