Pray for Camden

In the community center where I work, the project assistant from one of the office's alerted me to the Fourth Annual City-wide Prayer Walk for Camden. It immediately caught my interest because I had never heard of this sort of religious activism. I was curious to know if it was like a parade? I told her I would go to observe and support the prayer (but not to represent AmeriCorps VISTA).

The city-wide prayer walk was organized by Antioch Baptist Church. The activity was held in conjunction with fasting that lasted from June 1 until June 21. There was even planning and preparation services nightly from 7 PM to 9 PM. It was a big event; out of approximately 182 churches, about 90 participated with 1,000 people that joined the walk. What a turnout!

The day of the walk, I arrived with a researcher studying for her PHd at Upenn. She is studying religious activism in the United States, however, she had not considered Camden which is across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. With a background in urban planning, she understood my experiences I related to her about the nonprofit I work for, the lauded Main Street program, and the challenges that Camden faces. However, she was shocked by the urban decay in Camden and had never seen a city in such a devastating state.

We came about ten minutes late, but I told a lady that Lorie had told me about the activity. I said the magic word to this church lady because she had us sign-up, gave us a map and instructions for the walk, and join a group in all about three minutes. I was with a group of about 9 people; a family with their son and the rest were women. We went to East Camden.

Now the walk was organized block-by-block. Our group made a circumference around 10 blocks on the walk. It was literally a walk. There was at least 3 or 4 other groups sharing the sidewalks with us. The leader of our group would see them and pray or sing louder or instruct us to blow the whistles hanging around our necks! There was many prayers and blessings for vacant homes and businesses, schools, and each corner of the block where passersby watched us. There was also a lot of tears and holding hands. My friend, the researcher, had a very different experience because she was with only one of the ladies who walked in the opposite direction.

When we discussed our particular experiences, we agreed that the walk was very organized. She and I also heard the same sentiments that asked for the Lord to help Camden. We thought, yes, the city does need help but it is up to the people of the city to make improvements. In addition, we noticed that there was a church on almost every block notably well-maintained in comparison to the surrounding neighborhood. Then we both had a conflicting purpose for participating in the walk because we were there not to pray but to only observe. Yet, we managed sensitivity to the churches cause and provided little explanation about our purpose. It seemed that we would deflate the excitement flowing from the members in our group.