Faith & Blue coming to McCosh Park
The Moses Lake Police Department in cooperation with several local churches will be hosting a barbeque this weekend to build relationships between police officers and community members.
R. HANS MILLER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
MLPD has worked to reach out to city residents to ensure the department has a positive relationship with the community it serves.
MOSES LAKE — Pastors from a number of local churches will be joining Moses Lake Police officers and Grant County Sheriff’s deputies at McCosh Park on Saturday for grilled hot dogs, a time of fellowship and to show support for local law enforcement.
According to Moses Lake Police Chief Kevin Fuhr, both the Moses Lake Police Department and Grant County Sheriff’s Office will mark Faith & Blue on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Police officers will grill hot dogs and serve them up with chips and drinks, and there will be short presentations from the pastors of up to eight local churches, as well as brief speeches from Fuhr and Grant County Interim Sheriff Ryan Rectenwald.
“It’s to help build trust and understanding with all members of the community,” Fuhr said.
Fuhr said the protests that arose after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020 were clear evidence of mistrust between some citizens and the officers who patrol their neighborhoods. It’s important that some level of trust exists between police officers and citizens and residents, he added.
“This is basically a way to help,” Fuhr said.
Andy Grenier, a pastor at First Baptist Church in Moses Lake and a part-time police chaplain, said faith communities like his congregation are an important part of fostering and sustaining a basic level of trust between officers and the public.
It’s also important to remember, Grenier said, that in a community like Moses Lake, most police officers live where they work.
“Many of these officers are in our congregations, and they know our community,” he said.
Scheduled to attend are pastors from Restore City Church, Moses Lake Bible Church, Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Parish, and Source of Life Church, as well as a senior local leader with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Faith in Blue was started in 2020 by Georgia-based MovementForward and the U.S. Department of Justice as an effort to help bring police officers together with congregations across the country. Fuhr said this Saturday will be the first time the MLPD has been involved with the event, and that anyone who wants to come is invited.
For more information on the nationwide event, visit the Faith in Blue website at www.faithinblue.org.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.
