On the first day of the month, May Day 2010, was – despite some partisan rumblings – an event characterized by humility, repentance, and prayer. Primarily concerned for spiritual revival among the American people as opposed to political condemnation, Christians from around the country gathered to pray for the nation.

At the Lincoln Memorial, Faith and Action president Rob Schenck joined many Christian leaders, including the Rev. Mark Gurley, the great, great Grandson of Rev. Phineas Gurley. Rev. Mark Gurley spoke of his great, great grandfather’s close relationship with President Abraham Lincoln. The elder Gurley was the Pastor of the famed New York Avenue Presbyterian Church – which Lincoln attended faithfully.

Reflecting on the relationship between his family ancestor and our 16th President, Rev. Mark Gurley commented that it was a long time correspondence which, interestingly, included a religious awakening for Lincoln.

Rev. Gurley’s anecdotes related to the early President were more than appropriate in relation to the theme of repentance at May Day 2010. On March 30th, 1863 President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring a National Fast Day. He may have prophetically summed up the necessity of May Day in that proclamation when he declared that “[w]e have forgotten God.”

“We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! …It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

Rev. Rob Schenck also had the opportunity to spend some time with two other distinguished participants during May Day 2010 – General William Boykin and William J. Federer. General Boykin is no stranger to standing up for God and country; in the past, he has spoken admirably and boldly about America’s religious heritage, often offering public prayers in the name of Jesus. General Boykin was able to pray the truth without controversial consequences at May Day – offering prayer especially for members of the military. Also present at Saturday’s event was William J. Federer – historian, author, and speaker. Federer is the author and editor of several books including the newly released Prayer and Presidents – an anthology of writings by US presidents on the subject and necessity of prayer.

Rev. Schenck also shared a reading of the Ten Commandments with Dr. Roni Wexler, a leader in the Orthodox Jewish community and chairman of the Ten Commandments Commission. Dr. Wexler, a native of Israel, read the Decalogue in his first language, Hebrew, and Rev. Schenck read the text in English.

These individuals – and countless others attending May Day 2010 – remind us that widespread repentance begins with the faithful presence of individuals willing to humble themselves before God and neighbor.

Faith & Action’s Rev. Rob Schenck has been featured in all across the internet in news coverage of Washington DC’s legalization of gay marriage.  Click the links below to see Rev. Schenck preach to those seeking same-sex marriage licenses. Join the  online discussions and let your voice be heard!

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The US Supreme Court, whose building sits immediately across the street from the ministry center of

Rob Schenck directly center behind Sonia Sotomayor during Senate hearing.

Faith and Action, is about to change markedly. This week Judge Sonia Sotomayor is expected to be confirmed by the US Senate as the next sitting associate justice on the High Court. The seat she will occupy was vacated after the retirement of Justice David Souter.

“Judge Sotomayor has a very different personality from Justice Souter,” said Rob Schenck, who met the nominee during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Justice Souter was a reserved, almost reclusive, reticent New Englander. Judge Sotomayor is a passionate and outspoken New Yorker to the core. My father was born in Manhattan, my mother’s from Brooklyn and I served my first church in Queens. I know what that means, a very different temperament indeed.”

The Supreme Court forms an important part of the mission focus of Faith and Action. Rev. Schenck expects to be with the presumptive Justice Sotomayor many times in sometimes intimate settings.

“I think we’ll get along nicely,” said Rev. Schenck. “I certainly be pray that’s the case, and that we’ll have many meaningful conversations about important things.”