Alabama Baptists John Killian and Joe Godfrey encouraged others to defend the biblical definition of marriage June 6 by “speaking the truth in love” with more than 800 people who gathered for the Alabama for Marriage rally on the steps of the State Capitol.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, wrote on ricklance.com about the rally, “As we await a key ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that may well impact the sanctity of biblical marriage throughout our nation, the need for Christians to pray fervently and faithfully is still needed and very evident.”
At press time, the decision by the Supreme Court on the legalization of gay “marriage” had not yet been delivered.
‘Need for prayer’
Godfrey, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program, used Old and New Testament Bible passages to explain the biblical definition of marriage during the rally. Killian, past president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention and pastor of Maytown Baptist Church, “spoke boldly about the need for prayer,” Lance wrote. He urged believers to pray that God “would intervene to change hearts in the judicial, legislative and public arenas” concerning the marriage debate.
Killian said he centered his remarks on Hebrews and used examples from the lives of Moses, Isaiah and Stephen who were “courageous after having seen the invisible God.”
Other guest speakers included Tom Ford, spokesperson for Alabama for Marriage; Rep. Will Ainsworth (R-Guntersville); Col. John Eidsmoe, legal counsel at the Foundation of Moral Law; and Kayla Moore, wife of Chief Justice Roy Moore and president of the Foundation of Moral Law.
Inspired by the planned June 6 event, local rallies took place across the state prior to the rally in Montgomery. An Alabama for Marriage rally was held in Clarke Baptist Association on May 1 at Carlton Park in Grove Hill.
Loren S. Robinson, director of missions for Clarke Association, said to the crowd of more than 160 gathered, “Our nation is departing from the biblical and historical definition of marriage. We pray and ask God to move on the hearts of the Supreme Court justices that they will uphold the definition of marriage that our nation was built upon.”
Other rallies supporting traditional marriage were held across the state, including one at Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, on May 30 with about 65 participants.
Another was held at Liberty Church, Arab, on May 31 and another on the steps of the Marshall County Courthouse in Guntersville on the same day. More than 80 gathered at Anniston’s Zinn Park for a morning rally Feb. 7.
Echoing the sentiment of many who gathered at each prayer rally, Robinson said, “No matter what the Supreme Court justices decide, we will continue to uphold our convictions and seek to establish our nation once again upon … biblical values.” (Alabama for Marriage)
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