RELIGION / JOHN DART : ‘Marches for Jesus’ Participants Expected to Be in Step With Rules

“Marches for Jesus” taking place today in 170 countries and 500 U.S. locales--including Santa Clarita, Glendale and Chatsworth--aren’t quite lock-step martial parades, but the national organizers do expect a lot of conformity.

The controlled nature of the celebrations is considered one reason why the annual mile-and-a-half jaunts have caught on since the first March for Jesus seven years ago in London and the 150 marches in the United States two years ago.

But the rules are many: Marches must start at 10 a.m. in each time zone and be accompanied by music written and recorded specifically for them.

The only banners and flags permitted are those designed by the March for Jesus headquarters in Austin, Tex. Also “no group is allowed to identify itself,” reads the Marchers’ Code of Conduct. “We are not here to promote a church or denomination--we are here for Jesus.”

Enthusiasts, drawn mostly from evangelical and charismatic congregations, are also discouraged from using the occasion to espouse sociopolitical causes.

There are five prayers to be said at the end of the march. The wording is printed in the official booklet.

And yet, says Judy Lind, coordinator of the Glendale march and a participant in one last year in Pasadena, “there really is freedom and spontaneity in the marches and worship” despite the prerecorded music and many precise rules.

Lind said she expects about 1,000 marchers from two dozen congregations, including her own Glendale Presbyterian Church.

Moreover, organizers of the Santa Clarita march, which drew an estimated 5,000 marchers a year ago, plan to deviate from the wording and allow 10 pastors to offer prayers of their own.

“We think there is room for flexibility,” said Cathy Love, coordinator of the Santa Clarita march, which has 52 congregations and ministries backing the parade today, compared to three dozen churches last year.

The Santa Clarita march will proceed past City Hall and end up near county offices, partly because the route and assembly area are suitable and partly because the marches feature prayers for government leaders.

Nevertheless, the Rev. Tom Pelton, a former Austin, Tex., pastor who is national coordinator, has repeatedly stressed in statements that the event is a celebration with “no political agenda, no social agenda.”

Why are the regulations for participation so strict?

“The music and chants are important to maintain consistency” no matter where the march is taking place, Pelton said in a telephone interview. The lyrics by composer Graham Kendrick are doctrinally acceptable to traditional Christians who don’t want “to compromise beliefs for the sake of unity,” Pelton said.

For many of the two dozen Los Angeles-area marches, the music will come from the march’s official radio station, KKLA-FM, a Christian station in Glendale.

The songs, proclamations and prayers emphasize Jesus as “Lord of all” and his “awesome presence.”

“We don’t want it to come across as an in-your-face triumphalism,” Pelton said. “As we gather in massive marches we want to make sure we incorporate a sense of humility and repentance.”

However, Pelton recently had second thoughts about a portion of the prayer script that asks forgiveness for what it calls U.S. injustices to Native Americans:

“We displaced the native people, broke covenants with them, oppressed and enslaved people and enforced injustice. Now we reap a harvest of violence. Justice has fallen in the streets. Only you, Lord, can forgive us and heal our land.”

In a letter sent last week to local coordinators, Pelton said, “The wording of the prayer seems to have left room for misunderstanding and speculation about the point that is being made.” He asked that another statement, which reflects the common tenet among evangelicals that America has a special relationship with God, precede that portion:

“America was founded on Christian values and principles. Yet, our history has been marked by tragedy and violence.”

The attention to what he regards as sins against Native Americans has been a strong theme in recent years of evangelical leader John Dawson, who serves as international director of Youth With a Mission from an office in Lake View Terrace.

Dawson also chairs the U. S. advisory board for the March for Jesus, but will be unable to take part in a march this year. At march time, Dawson will be between an Atlanta conference and the Christian Booksellers national convention in Denver, promoting his newly published book, “Healing America’s Wounds.”

The Rev. Jack Hayford, senior pastor of Church on the Way in Van Nuys, is also on the advisory board. But Hayford and his church were heavily involved in the June 1-5 Luis Palau Crusade that was supported by volunteers from nearly 200 churches.

“All of our resources went into the crusade and we have referred callers to the marches planned in Santa Clarita and Pasadena,” said a church spokesperson.

A large march will begin at Will Rogers Park in South-Central Los Angeles, said Brenda Strauch, Southern California coordinator. Other marches are planned in Torrance, Long Beach, Huntington Beach and several in the San Gabriel Valley.

The only march planned in the San Fernando Valley, excluding Glendale, will be a small effort in Chatsworth, which will begin at Chatsworth Foursquare Church at 10210 Canoga Ave. and proceed along Devonshire Street to Mason Park.

“We didn’t get started until late and the churches I talked to were involved with follow-up to the Palau evangelistic crusade,” said Denise Dunbar, the Chatsworth coordinator and a member of the Foursquare church.

But Lind, the Glendale coordinator, was hopeful that the march from Glendale Presbyterian Church at 125 Louise St. to Glendale High School will launch an annual event. The participating congregations include Chinese, Armenian, Filipino and Arabic churches and range from Lutheran to Pentecostal in theology.

“The things which have tended to divide us are falling away and we are finding unity in praising God together,” Lind said.