INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA [IFA] ON WATCH IN WASHINGTON

First posted: Friday, April 27, 2001

A special focus for our May 3 National Day of Prayer...

WASHINGTON, DC - A PROFILE FOR PRAYER by Gary Bergel email: USAPRAY@aol.com

One of the most vivid memories I carry, is that of the Lord placing Washington, DC and its residents in my heart. It was the spring of 1979, IFA had convened a prayer seminar, and I was taking a long afternoon prayer walk in downtown DC. I returned to my hotel carrying the city and a surprising certainty that my family and I were called to live and labor in the area. It was not a question of "if," but only of "when." We moved two years later. This spring marks the 20th year since we took up residence. By the appointment and grace of God we are headquartered and stand "On Watch in Washington"

FOCUSING ON THE "DISTRICT"

As we engage in our annual National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 3 and in First Friday fasting, it seems appropriate that we focus concerted intercession on the District established to be the seat of our nation's government, and our capital city, Washington. The following historical overview is intended to help us pray with understanding.

GEORGE WASHINGTON SELECTS THE SITE

President George Washington, empowered by Congress, in 1791 selected a site along the Potomac River for a Ten-Mile-Square Federal District. This federal district was envisioned to be coextensive with the capital city of the United States, Washington. Situated as a diamond between Maryland and Virginia, it was later reduced to 68 square miles, with the Potomac as its southwest border. In 1800 the federal government was transferred from Philadelphia to this federal district. It was called the City of Washington, in the territory of Columbia.

STAMPED WITH THE OCCULT

A City Stamped with the Occult - French architect and engineer Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, appointed by President Washington, drew up the original plan. Dismissed within a year during land disputes, his work was executed by Andrew Ellicott and a talented and often overlooked free black, Benjamin Banneker. L'Enfant, a visionary who successfully laid plans for a city of 800,000, was also a Freemason and incorporated Masonic symbols into his street plan. Freemasonry imprints the heart of the city to this day.

CORNERSTONES WITH MASONIC RITUAL

The cornerstones of the Capitol, The White House and other federal buildings, many reflecting Greek temple architecture, were laid in Masonic ritual. Masonic Federal Lodge No. 1 was chartered in 1793 and held its first meeting "on the site of the present House of Representatives Office Buildings." James Hoban, Architect of the White House and Superintendent of the Capitol's construction, was installed as its first "Worshipful Master." ( See Web www.federallodge.org ) Master Masons helped direct the Capitol construction crews which, as documents discovered last year show, included at least 400 slaves.

THE MASONIC BIBLE OFTEN USED, BUT NOT IN THIS INAUGURATION

Several U.S. presidents have taken the oath of office with their hand laid on a Masonic Bible dating from the founding of the nation. It is significant to note that neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney chose to use this Masonic Bible during their Inauguration on January 21, 2001. Instead, they placed their hands on family Bibles. Some of you might have received prayer alerts initiated by Ron Campbell, author of "Free from Freemasonry," calling for intercession that the Lord might intervene in just the way described. Let us offer sincere thanksgiving.

History records that the founding of our federal government as an institution, and of the federal district as the seat of government, was a spiritual "mixture." Judeo-Christian biblical truth and principles were mingled with Greco-Roman philosophy and humanism, with Masonic and occult practices, and with influences from arcane societies long associated with "the kings of the earth," aristocratic ruling classes, and international monetary systems.

CONFUSED BECAUSE OF "EASTERN WAYS"

Scripture warns that individuals and nations which practice idolatry and the occult will become "confused and confounded" for these "eastern ways," and that their days will be filled with futility. (Isaiah 1:29-31; 2:6-8) Tragically, the 210-year history of our nation's capital is marked with just such confusion and turmoil.

Ever Changing Municipal Forms - It is almost dizzying to read the number of jurisdictional "flip/flops" and redefinitions of city administration which Congress enacted during the first 100 years in our nation's capital. (See Web site www.exploredc.org/timeline/text_only.html )

RACIAL TENSIONS FROM THE BEGINNING

Residents were suspended in racial tension, and effective self-government was hamstrung from the District's earliest days. In 1802 only white male property owners were given the right to vote for city council members. Free black male citizens were not granted any voting rights until 1867, five years after Congress abolished slavery in the District.

Congress altered the city's charter and modes of administration many times, moving it from elected boards and councils, to aldermen, to presidentially appointed boards and councils, to expanded forms with a District House of Delegates, and even back to territorial status with a governor.

Eventually in 1878, in a time of severe financial crisis, Congress resumed direct control of the city under Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution. Administrative rule by three presidentially appointed commissioners was instituted. This control via commissioners and congressional committees continued for nearly 100 years. Tensions rose since committee members were not residents of Washington and represented constituencies that had little to no interest in the problems of the city.

DC NOT GIVEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE

DC residents were denied all rights to vote until 1961. The 23rd Amendment then allowed qualified voters to vote in presidential elections, but failed to permit participation in elections for local officials, all of who continued to be appointed.

The issue of self-government and District home rule became ever more racially charged and boiled to the surface during the nationwide struggle for civil rights. In 1967 Congress finally reorganized the District's government, abolishing the three-commissioner system and creating in its place a single commissioner (who assumed the title of mayor), an assistant commissioner, and a nine-member city council, all appointed by the president. In 1970 Congress again granted the election of a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives. In 1973 these measures were amended to provide for the popular election every four years of the mayor and city council members. The mayor and city council were given broader authority. Congress, however, reserved the power to veto any actions of the District government deemed to threaten "federal interest."

Walter Washington was elected mayor in 1974, but a century-long vacuum of local self-government set the stage for the election of civil rights activist Marion Barry. The election of Barry in 1979, an African American from a disadvantaged background, energized the spirit of the city's then 70 percent black majority. Over the course of a decade the mayor began to struggle with drug use, crime rates soared, and mismanagement took the city into a downward financial spiral toward bankruptcy.

CHANGING RACIAL POPULATIONS AND "BLACK CODES"

Changing Racial Populations - The District's white residents numbered some 30,000 in 1840. The slave population of the District rose from 3,200 in 1800 to 4,700 in 1840.

About 8,500 free blacks also lived in the city at that time, and some had accumulated considerable amounts of property and influence. These free blacks were feared by "city fathers," who controlled capital life. They instituted restrictive and humiliating "Black Codes." The free blacks lived in constant fear of being picked up as fugitive slaves and "sold South."

Slaves were emancipated in the District in 1862. A few years later some 40,000 freed slaves and refugees suddenly gave Washington a population that was primarily composed of poor, free blacks. While living conditions were appalling, often just a shack, their status as citizens did improve from 1862 to the mid-1870s. The Congress, dominated by Radical Republicans, while controlling the city, enacted codes of Reconstruction, and provided free, though segregated, schools and other services

THE DARKENING SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE

From the turn of the century the city continued on its arduous journey through days of segregation, the "Red Summer" riots of 1919, World War I, the beginning of desegregation, hunger marches, and the unfortunate refusal by the Daughters of the American Revolution to let renowned African American opera singer Marian Anderson sing at Constitution Hall.

Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for her to sing from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a mixed-race crowd of 75,000. While almost never regarded, we must consider afresh whether this act helped precipitate the severing of Washington's black community from Lincoln's Republican Party. World War II erupted, the civil-rights movement marched forward, and Washington became the first major city to integrate its schools. These actions triggered race riots, white flight, and a moving away of black businesses which weakened family neighborhoods

EMBASSIES DEEPEN SPIRITUAL FORCES AT WORK

As the U.S. emerged a world power after World War II, additional spiritual forces were brought into the District by an increase in embassies, their staffs and religions and cultures from most every nation on earth. These, combined with the wounds from slavery, civil rights struggles, and the existing Masonic and occult influences worked to generate one of the most dank, turbulent and volatile spiritual atmospheres over any world-class city on the planet, except for Jerusalem, and major European cities.

NATIONAL PRAYER BEGINS

Prayer and Fasting is Mobilized - The early 70s saw the establishment of national prayer ministries, including Intercessors for America. By 1980 a National Prayer Committee was being formed. The annual National Day of Prayer brought more and more prayer leaders and praying Christians to Washington, DC. Poor management during the Barry administration, corruption and rising crime and murder rates prompted more DC area pastors to unite in prayer. The city's plight gained national attention in the 80s, and Washington for Jesus prayer events were mounted on the Mall. Corporate prayer intensified.

INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA--THE NIGHT THE MAYOR WAS LATER ARRESTED

A New Dawn Appears - In January of 1990 Intercessors for America (IFA) united with Together In Ministry International (TIM) to spearhead a 90-hour prayer and fasting vigil during the first week of the year. Much appointed intercessory work concerning the city was done, with a "breakthrough" time occurring at the close of the vigil. In mid-January an intercessory conference convened in Metro DC was assigned to bind "deception" in the District. It was on that night that then-mayor Barry was arrested in the act of smoking cocaine. A new spiritual dawn appeared, and a purging of corruption and renewal of "good government" has been unfolding. A 45 percent drop in crime was noted in IFA's July/August 2000 Newsletter.

The city was put under a federal Control Board. Mayor Barry brought one Anthony Williams, adopted and raised by a strong, praying Christian mother, to the city to reverse the plunge toward bankruptcy. William's integrity, leadership skills and success at restoring the city's finances resulted in multi-ethnic citizens' groups demand that he run for mayor. He agreed, campaigned with a new vision, won, and assumed office in January, 1999. Mayor William's call for "True Self-Government" can be found on the city's website www.dc.gov . Please pray for the following:

District Residents - The 2000 Census showed Washington's population, nearly 600,000, to be 60 percent African American, 31 percent white, eight percent Hispanic, and three percent Asian. The Metropolitan area numbers show three million more. The DC area is currently among the top 10 "magnets" for illegal immigrants.

Public Officials - Anthony Williams, Mayor; Abjusalem Omer, Chief of Staff; Natwar Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer; Robert Rigsby, Corporation Counsel. Deputy Mayors: John Koskinen, City Administrator; Eric Price, Economic Development; Carolyn Graham, Children and Families; Margret Nedelkoff Kellems, Safety. Linda Cropp, Chairman, City Council; Eleanor Holmes Norton, Representative to Congress; Charles Ramsey, Chief of Police; Peggy Cooper Cafritz, President, Board of Education; Odie Washington, Director, Department of Corrections.

The District's Final Status - Unresolved self-government issues continue. Congress passed a Constitutional Amendment in 1978 to grant DC voting representation in Congress; it died after 13 states refused to ratify it. DC voters have elected a "shadow" congressional delegation since 1990 to lobby for statehood status. A measure to grant statehood was introduced and defeated in 1993. At present, various DC political leaders and citizen action groups are protesting the District's "taxation without representation." Many are calling for statehood.

The District of Columbia, the first of our 15 U.S. Territories, might be likened to an oldest "step child," asking for affirmation, and the rights of inheritance and self-government. The resolution of the District of Columbia's struggles will set precedents and patterns for how commonwealth and statehood issues are resolved in Puerto Rico and other inhabited U.S. Territories.

Continued prevailing prayer for Washington, DC remains a priority.

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Gary Bergel serves as President of Intercessors for America (IFA). Headquartered near Washington, DC, IFA is now in its 28th year of ministry to the Body of Christ. The mission of Intercessors for America: To fervently and humbly seek the supremacy of Jesus Christ in America through prevailing prayer and fasting. The above article on Washington, DC appeared in the May 2001, IFA First Friday Newsletter, Reproduction and retransmittal is permitted when IFA is credited and the IFA Web site is referenced (www.ifa-usapray.org).

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