| Faith community lifts new administration in prayer BY ERIK ALSGAARD UMCONNECTION STAFF  Religious leaders from Maryland, including more than 60 United Methodist clergy, assembled in Bowie Jan. 14 at a prayer breakfast for Marylands new governor and lieutenant governor. Gov. Robert Ehrlich, a United Methodist from Arbutus, and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, the states first African-American lieutenant governor, gathered with 500 people at Bowie State Universitys Martin Luther King Jr. auditorium the day before the inauguration for a time of prayer, music and celebration. Im grateful for this opportunity to be here, said the Rev. Stacey Nickerson, pastor of Arbutus UMC and the governors pastor. Im grateful for a governor who would find prayer important enough to have this event. Nickerson spoke directly from the podium to Ehrlich, saying she had come to appreciate how deeply rooted in the Arbutus community he was. She also reminded him that all people have worth, and that he was a child of God. I pray that you will seek to honor God in your servant leadership. I pray you will seek God and Gods way, she said. Bishop Felton Edwin May pronounced the benediction at the conclusion of the interfaith service. Creator God: continue to bless Governor-elect Ehrlich and Lt. Governor-elect Steele, the bishop prayed. Grant to them wisdom and courage and holy boldness, to execute their responsibilities with justice and mercy; to execute their duties with patience and forgiveness, and not to execute your bone of your bone and your flesh of your flesh. May the Lord bless the two of you. May the Lord keep you both. May the Lord make his face to shine upon each of you, and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up the Lords countenance upon you and give you the only gift that we can give: the peace of God that passes all understanding. Amen and Amen. Ehrlich spoke briefly during the service. God did not vote in this election, he said. God did not endorse us. God does not choose sides. We did not pray to win; what I prayed was for God to allow me to use the talent that he gave me when I was born. Ehrlich also said that religion was very personal to him and to Steele, a Roman Catholic who studied in a seminary for several years. We dont wear our religion on our collective shirt sleeves, he said. Afterwards, speaking to reporters, both Bishop May and Nickerson voiced concerns about a possible resumption of capital punishment and the introduction of slot machines at Maryland horseracing tracks. The United Methodist Churchs official position is against both capital punishment and gambling. It is premature for the Ehrlich administration to set aside the death penalty moratorium, Bishop May told the Washington Post. Bishop May also said slot machines are completely out of the question. There can be no equivocation on utilizing the frailties of human kind to balance the states budget. I am concerned about slot machines and what they may lead to in terms of addiction, Nickerson told a reporter from the Post. I certainly cannot support slots, and I just pray that they will work hard to find the money we need. I am also in opposition to the death penalty, as is The United Methodist Church. On Jan. 21, the Baltimore Sun reported that a Baltimore County judge paved the way for Marylands first execution in nearly five years when he agreed to sign a death warrant for convicted murderer Steven Oken. It is the first capital case to move forward under Ehrlich, whose entry into office effectively ended the states moratorium on the death penalty, the Sun reported. | 
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