​Hundreds gather for ecumenical Palm Sunday worship service, protest

By Bryce Vincent Haugen

On Palm Sunday two thousand years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey to directly take on the authoritarian Roman rulers of the region, according to Christian scripture. It was an overtly political act, standing up to those who ruled by fear and subjugation, said Matt Peterson, senior pastor of Moorhead’s Trinity Lutheran Church, the city’s largest Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation.

Peterson was one of 14 local pastors — including Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist faith leaders — who spent the past six months planning a Palm Sunday gathering. They felt it was only appropriate to spend Palm Sunday speaking out against Christian Nationalism and in favor of the things Jesus taught — specifically feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger and healing the sick.

More than 300 people attended the ecumenical and interfaith event on March 29 that began at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead and progressed across the First Avenue Bridge to Fargo City Hall, where they participated in a combination worship service and protest. The event was one of 33 in 17 states, focusing on the teachings of the Bible chapter Matthew 25.

Barbara Edin, who held a sign that simply read “Love Your Neighbor,” attended the event with her friends Mary Jane Haugen and Helen Beth Kuhens. Edin said that her involvement was all about embracing the less fortunate.

“Social justice, love, peace. It’s what we stand for as Christians, bringing hope and optimism, letting people know that we are here and we will walk in Christ’s footprints,” she said.

Jesus was the “kind of political that left no one out” Kuhens added. Ultimately, Haugen said, she and her friends are there to stand up against Christian Nationalism.

Peterson, the senior pastor from Trinity, said he’s had just a few people complain about his outspoken opposition to the policies of the administration. Although the subtext was clear, no one at the event ever invoked President Donald J. Trump by name.

“I don’t fear any feedback because I know I’m standing for the values of Jesus,” Peterson said. “I welcome the conversation because it means I get to talk about Jesus.”

Before the crowd began its procession, Rev. Rebel Hurd, associate bishop of the NW Minnesota ELCA synod stressed nonviolence. “We are here to wave palms, not raise palms,” she said.

As he crossed the bridge among people waving palms, holding signs such as “No King but Jesus” and “Welcome the Stranger” and singing spiritual songs, ELCA Northwest Minnesota Synod Bishop Bill Tesch succinctly described Christian Nationalism.

“It’s using religion as a tool for power,” he said. “It’s the opposite of what Jesus actually taught.”

As they approached the Fargo City Hall parking lot, the strumming of Kevin Stenstrom, worship leader at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, welcomed the crowd. David Bailey, a second generation American, represented Fargo Seventh Day Adventist Church in the mass of people of many faiths.

“I think it’s important to see a community that does care about the values that are actually talked about in the Bible,” Bailey said, adding that immigrants such as his parents have made vital contributions to their adopted homelands. “This is what God asked us to do.”

At the worship service, there were three speakers: Rev. Devlyn Brooks of Churches United for the Homeless, Dan Hannaher of Global Refuge and Dr. Fanny Roncal Ramirez, a Concordia College Spanish professor and board member of the Latino advocacy organization CASA.

“I implore you that whatever we generate today, however we invoke the Holy Spirit to help us today, that it cannot end here,” Brooks said.

Hannaher pointed out that his organization has resettled more than 700 people from around the world in Fargo-Moorhead over the past five years. “They’ve become my friends; they’ve become my neighbors and their value is neverending,” he said.

Roncal Ramirez said that the word “welcome needs two parties and both are action verbs.” Diversity and multiculturalism, she said, must be celebrated.

Following the speakers, Rev. Michelle Webber encouraged the crowd to donate to the three organizations. “We put our faith into action by giving our blessings,” she said.

Then the worship service returned to song. Along the banks of the Red River of the North, the sounds of hundreds of voices in unison called into the crisp spring air: “As I went down to the river to pray, studying about that good old way…Oh neighbors, let’s go down, down in the river to pray.”

Before Stenstrom sent the crowd along their quiet, palm waving return over the river with a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine,” Webber led a “Prayers of the People.” The refrain: “We will love our neighbors, today, and every day.”

Reach Bryce Vincent Haugen at brycevincenthaugen@gmail.com.