Mission Director and Pastor, Father Manuel Williams, C.R., is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and serves as chaplain for the Alabama District of the fraternity. On Tuesday, February 20, 2018, nearly 100 brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha from across the state gathered in Montgomery to meet with legislators and to advocate for improvements in education, healthcare, access to voting, and criminal justice among other issues.
At the opening of both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate, Father Manuel offered the following prayer:
Lord God, we ask for your wisdom and grace as we continue the great work of public service and governing. Lord, give us courage to face the real challenges which lie before us, whether issues of health care, infrastructure, education, or criminal justice. Lord, give us a better and common vision on how to make our state more just, more humane, more prosperous for all its citizens.
Protect us from forces within and without, which seek to divide us one from another on the basis of class, race, gender or religion. Lord, we are so grateful for the abundance of resources – natural and human – you have lavished on this state. May we galvanize our hands and hearts to make our beloved Alabama all that it can be. With confidence in Your abiding presence, we pray with expectant hearts.
Let us all say, Amen.