In the first service of the 2025-2026 school year on Aug. 17, Howard University’s Andrew Rankin Chapel was packed with freshmen, students, faculty and community members, ready for a call to action amid a challenging time for the District, nation and world.
“Guard our hearts,” said Bernard Richardson, dean of Rankin Chapel, during prayer. “We are envious of many things. Help us in this moment to release all that we are struggling with. Despite all that is going in and out of our lives, we have so much to be thankful for.”
Many members of the class of 2029 are just beginning to live and learn in D.C. in a tense environment, with heightened law enforcement, hundreds of arrests, and protests in response to President Donald Trump’s recent decision to deploy the National Guard to the nation’s capital and takeover the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Despite challenges, the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, pastor of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church offered Rankin Chapel attendees a message of hope.
“As we worship God in an occupied place I want to reflect on the cost that got us to where we are today,” he said, referencing the Biblical story of Job and his challenges after losing property, animals and 10 children.
Under the theme, “Mrs. Job Speaks,” Lamar said Job’s wife faced challenges because of her connection to her husband— a good man whose faith was being tested by God.
“Pain is coming our way that is not the result of who we are, but it is the result of who we are connected to. It is the result, rather, of our connection. Pain is coming to Washington, D.C., and already exists because we look a certain way,” Lamar said. “Be careful as you move around because they’re ready to unleash collateral damage on people who look like us, on people who study in places like this.”
He talked about Mrs. Job’s incredible frustration after so much loss– including the burial of seven sons and three daughters— particularly.
“Is there anybody today with that same type of anger? “ Lamar asked the congregation. “You are studying at a time of reconstruction. They are unplugging protections— justice protections, economic protections.”
Lamar pushed back on policies from the Trump administration that prevent forward progress and how some of the president’s supporters use Christianity to spew discriminatory and hateful rhetoric. He noted that while some Christian nationalists believe that “God is a blood-thirsty warrior,” the God he serves is different from the God of “Jesus loving MAGA Christians.”
“There are some Gods that we have to kill,” Lamar said. “That’s who said that a woman can’t preach. That God of the Speaker of the House. The God of Paula White and Billy Graham’s son.”
Lamar warned the students to be careful as they navigate throughout the District of Columbia, and encouraged them to remember God’s message of love to combat hate and fight against injustices.
“I need you all to know that in a world of erasure and hatred, we must love one another so much,” said Lamar. “We must be connected and so concerned, that when collateral damage comes our way, we lift one another up. We hold one another in our hands.”
For Diane Oneuchekea, a member of the Friends of Rankin Chapel, today’s justice fight is a sad reminder of years past.
“As a child, I was not able to visit a public park until I was 10 years old because of segregation,” she told The Informer. “As a resident of Danville, Va. we had our Bloody Sunday and Dr. King visited our community several times.”
Having witnessed historic activists like King rally people toward change, Oneuchekea was inspired by Lamar’s sermon and hoped that it offered inspiration for the students throughout their Howard University tenure.
“I was glad that Rev. Lamar spoke to the students and admonished them that they are our future and have the responsibility to respond to acts of injustice and unlawful behavior,” said Oneuchekea.
