Key points:
- Christians in some 30 cities and 16 states across the U.S. joined on Palm Sunday to protest rising authoritarianism, racism and Christian nationalism.
- In Nashville, marchers waving palm fronds and protest signs walked in silence to the Tennessee State Capitol.
- Event organizers estimate some 500-700 people from across Middle Tennessee participated in the march.
United Methodists joined with other Christians on Palm Sunday to stand in solidarity with the marginalized.
The Rev. Eric Mayle told marchers gathered at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 29 that they were joining with people of faith in 30 cities and 16 states across the U.S. for the Palm Sunday witness.
“Today we wave our palm branches; we march and cry out in solidarity with our neighbors, ‘Hosanna. God save us,’” said Mayle, pastor of Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville.
Marchers carrying palm fronds and protest signs walked in silence from First Lutheran to the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and the William Snodgrass Tennessee Tower Plaza near the Tennessee State Capitol, crossing busy downtown streets with the help of Metro Nashville police and event volunteers.
The Rev. Stephen Handy, senior pastor of McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville, spoke to marchers gathered at the federal building.
“Horrific racism is embedded in the soul and the soil of America and evident in institutions and power structures that we live by. We are not the United States of America; we are the United States of Amnesia.
“To proclaim freedom is to stand with those targeted by … systems that profit from human suffering (and) confront powers that resist human dignity,” Handy said.
At the second stop, the Rev. Timothy Holton-Overcast said the state’s General Assembly is making life and death decisions, and he criticized Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to forgo federal funding for a summer food program for low-income children. Citing the state’s refusal because of administrative burdens, Holton-Overcast said, “feeding hungry kids should never be a burden.”
In February, Holton-Overcast helped organize United Methodist Day on the Hill, which he called “a field trip for faith in action.”
Event organizers estimate some 500 to 700 people from across Middle Tennessee participated in the Palm Sunday march to stand against rising authoritarianism, racism and Christian nationalism.
On the other side of the U.S., in Eugene, Oregon, about 450 people marched to the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in the center of Eugene for "Reclaiming Christianity in the Public Square: Standing Up and Speaking Out Against White Christian Nationalism."
The ecumenical effort was sponsored by about a dozen churches in Eugene, including First United Methodist and Asbury United Methodist Church.
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DuBose is a freelance photographer and longtime UM News correspondent based in Nashville, Tenn. Freelance photojournalist Paul Jeffrey contributed to this report.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer at newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the UM News Digests.
