Several of Minnesota’s religious leaders are calling for a week of prayer against Arizona’s “extreme anti-immigrant legislation” which will go into effect at the end of the month. Dubbed “Isaiah 58 Summer,” Minnesota’s week of prayer is part of eight weeks of prayer and fasting nationwide.
Among the leaders participating are Minnesota’s United Methodist Bishop Sally Dyke, the Rev. Don Portwood of Lyndale United Church of Christ, and Rabbi Morris Allen of St. Paul’s Beth Jacob Congregation. In addition to Minneapolis and St. Paul, events will be held in Willmar and Grand Marais.
In a statement, the group said, “The faith community is telling Gov. Tim Pawlenty as well those competing in Minnesota’s gubernatorial elections to oppose legislation like Arizona’s and pray for courageous leadership in Washington to act now on immigration reform that keeps families together and fixes our broken system.”
The week of prayer is “to show support for the people of Arizona as they prepare for new extreme anti-immigrant legislation to go into effect on July 28, facing firsthand the devastating consequences of federal inaction on comprehensive immigration reform.”
The week of prayer runs from July 11 to July 18.
Isaiah 58, the Christian Bible verse at the heart of the movement, says, in part:
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
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