Rev. Charles Ellis of Detroit's Greater Grace Temple Offers Up Prayers for Passage of Bailout With SUVs at the Altar

I am going to give this church the benefit of the doubt, but I have to ask, how different is what they did than Sarah "Pitbull with lipstick" when that nutjob Rev. Muthee prayed for her and her prayers about the pipeline. So, fast forward. Rev. Charles Ellis of Detroit's Greater Grace Temple offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry. Okay, so I have no problems with his prayers, but I think they went overboard with the sport-utility-vehicles at the altar.

"We have never seen as midnight an hour as we face this week," the Rev. Charles Ellis told several thousand congregants at a rousing service at Detroit's Greater Grace Temple. "This week, lives are hanging above an abyss of uncertainty as both houses of Congress decide whether to extend a helping hand."

Local car dealerships donated three hybrid SUVs to be displayed during the service, one from each of the Big Three. A Ford Escape, Chevy Tahoe from GM and a Chrysler Aspen were parked just in front of the choir and behind the pulpit. Source: Reuters

Ellis said he and other Detroit ministers would pray and fast until Congress voted on a bailout for Detroit's embattled automakers. He urged his congregation to do the same. Okay. I don't have a problem with fasting and the idea he posed to his congregation either. The issue I have is the fact that the SUVs were on stage. Rev. Ellis, God gets the message. You didn't have to use the vehicles as props to get media coverage or to get to God.

"Everybody can't live on Wall Street. Everybody can't live on Main Street. But all of us have lived on the side street, the working class," Ellis said. "I call it the working class because everything tells me there is no more middle class." Source: Reuters

As you know, key Democratic lawmakers and the Bush administration were locked in negotiations over the weekend aimed at offering at least $15 billion in short-term loans to keep General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC from immediate bankruptcy. I honestly did not want them to be bailed out. These companies have been riled with mismanagement for so long, they deserve to fail. But Main Street would be at the losing end. Too many people would lose their jobs. The auto industry cannot die a slow death. Their demise would affect too many people across too many areas--suppliers, dealers, workers and companies in related industries. There needs to be a radical reinvention of these companies. I would venture to say, Chrysler and General Motors Corp. should merge. We don't need all three. A merger of two would be practical.

But back to Rev. Ellis. I know he meant well and his heart is in the right place, so I won't criticize him as vehemently as I could.

Ellis said he started to organize the service last week after hearing from auto workers, retirees and their widows who were all fearful of even harder times. At one point, Ellis summoned up hundreds of auto workers and retirees in the congregation to come forward toward the vehicles on the altar to be anointed with oil.

"It's all about hope. You can't dictate how people will think, how they will respond, how they will vote," Ellis said after the service. "But you can look to God. We believe he can change the minds and hearts of men and women in power, and that's what we tried to do today." Source: Reuters

We need divine intervention because President Bush has created a maelstrom of mismanagement. On a personal note, I believe prayer works and I have been faced with many challenges in my life and God worked it out for me. No matter what, I can aver that He is an on time God. As Dottie Peoples says in her song -- He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be here right on time. He's an on time God, yes He is. So, to the people of Detroit, I will keep you in my prayers because this whole country is in a financial tailspin. But Rev. Ellis, lose the SUVs next time. Don't sully an otherwise good message with questionable tactics. Clearly the onus is on Ford, Chrysler and General Motors to make better vehicles instead of the gas guzzlers clogging up our streets and contributing to poor air quality. Surely he could pray for the companies' executive team to be terminated. Since they are guilty of years of mismanagement. Rev. Ellis showed that he still focuses on the material things--cars at the altar. Greater Grace Temple is one of Detroit's largest churches. It was the site of the 2005 funeral for civil rights figure Rosa Parks.