Wrens Mayor Hosts Unity Focused Prayer Breakfast

On Saturday, June 1, a crowd of area pastors and other church leaders gathered to talk about issues facing the community, to hear from state legislators, and to focus on building the ‘unit.

“This was born out of a desire to bring all of our clergy together to discuss what we can do better in our community to bring unity,” said Wrens Mayor David Hannah, organizer of the event. “We want to get our young people back to church, especially now with all the shootings and everything going on around us. We want to bring our young people together.

In total, Hannah said he thinks about 50 different churches or congregations were represented at the event.

In Wrens Police Chief John Maynard’s opening prayer, he asked that the event be about bringing people together to praise God, to help end the gun violence plaguing the community and that the young people of the community find the church.

The first speaker was Maria Cook, Southeast Representative from U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock’s office.

“Every time I come to Jefferson County, I know the community is united,” Cook said.

She referenced the gun violence and drugs mentioned by the mayor and police chief and said people need to come together to stand against these things and not let situations or Circumstances dictate how citizens move through our communities.

“Mayor Hannah has a very difficult job,” Cook said. “We understand that a lot of citizens and residents want to see the outcome of everything that’s happening. But it takes infrastructure, it takes dollars and it takes all of you working together to make these things possible.

“Our communities have gone years without the things they need. But I can say that the senator has worked tirelessly in Washington to ensure that we have water infrastructure, that we have broadband, that we have things for our police officers and our fire chiefs and for all entities that can make these communities more sustainable.

Reggie Cofer of U.S. Sen. John Ossoff’s office said he hears the community’s needs for affordable housing, gun violence and broadband connectivity, and he said the senator is working in Washington to address the needs communities like those in Jefferson County.

“Let us know how we can get you the best help in Jefferson County,” Cofer said. “We are praying for you, please continue to pray for us. I thank God for the strength, for the unity and for the cooperation of the people here in Jefferson County.

Wrens Mayor David Hannah (center) hosted the prayer breakfast on June 1.

Georgia State House Representative Brian Prince addressed those gathered and told them that his own pastor had been preaching about unity for several weeks.

“Together we can go a long way,” Prince said. “I see this at the State House. I am a Democrat. Republicans have the governor, the Senate, the House, but we can still get things done, and we do, but it takes working together, just like the mayor brings us together here.

He challenged the ministers present and told them how powerful their positions are in their communities.

“People listen,” he said. “First they are there to hear the word, but then they observe you, who you support, how you support things and how you live. And they follow you.

Prince said that if you follow the news on the major networks, you might think the country is totally divided.

“But there are people right here in this community, in this state, who are working together to make things better, not for us, but for those who are going to follow us,” Prince said.

Hannah thanked the pastors and all the visitors who took part in the event.

“I just want to tell everyone that we really appreciate them from the bottom of our hearts,” Hannah said. “We will do it again next year. It’s bigger than any of us, it’s something we want to do for people.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Wrens Mayor Hosts Prayer Breakfast Focused on Unity.

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