Vallejo City of God
Mayor and City Council Look to God to Heal Their City
-Mayor Osby Davis
The past year has been a tumultuous one for the town of Vallejo in northern California. Located in the San Francisco Bay area, the town has a population of nearly 120,000 residents. A contentious mayoral election, financial problems leading to an unprecedented bankruptcy filing and a troubled school district left the city crying out for help. In the midst of the tumult, however, the hand of God is visible in the men and women of faith banding together to lift up Vallejo and make a difference in their community. A philosophy of “marketplace ministers,” as defined in Ed Silvoso’s book Anointed for Business helped transform Vallejo Christians from passive citizens into community activists by maintaining that every Christian is called to change the world, whatever their occupation. As Mayor Osby Davis put it, “If the church does her job, the city will be transformed.”
The battle for the mayor’s office in 2007 was unlike any other in the history of the town, or the region for that matter. Davis, the eventual winner and Vallejo’s first African American mayor, was opposed by Gary Cloutier, the first openly gay mayoral candidate in Vallejo’s history and, if he had won, would have been the first openly gay mayor of any city in the Bay Area. The Vallejo church created a political forum for both the mayor and city council to attend, the aim of which was reconciliation for the city’s leaders. The faith community in Vallejo, their eyes newly opened to the challenge of effecting change in the political arena, began lifting up Davis, an outspoken Christian, in prayer. On election day, Cloutier was declared the new mayor by 5 votes. A recount was called for and two days after Cloutier had been sworn in as mayor the final results were in: Davis had won by a margin of four votes! The church’s efforts at reconciliation and the fervent prayer of Christians all over Vallejo had prevailed and the city now had itself a Christian mayor. After his hard-won victory, Mayor Davis has an uphill battle. The blame thrown around for the city’s lingering financial problems created deep divisions in Vallejo politics.
On May 6, 2008, Vallejo became the largest city in California to file for bankruptcy, exposing a deep wound. A financial mess that was the result of a series of fiscally irresponsible decisions combined with the national economic downturn left the city deeply in debt. The financial problems have left the city reeling, but according to Danny Jefferson, pastor of Rehoboth World Outreach Center and leader of the Vallejo Faith Organization, the city’s churches have stepped into the battle to get the city back on track, unlike in the past when the church was content to sit on the sidelines.
Vallejo’s schools are also struggling, but they are finally making progress. The town currently has a 40% high school dropout rate. Church members in the community recently began an Adopt-A-School program to deal with it. Churches also started praying regularly for Superintendent of Schools Mary Ball. While not a churchgoer herself, Ball has shown an increasing openness to the Spirit of God, the love and support of the local churches and has even allowed Christians to pray for her. Inspired by the support of the church, Ball has begun a literacy program in Vallejo elementary schools which includes 35 children in the first and third grades, and has plans to begin a mentoring program in 2009. Vallejo churches are further serving the school district by hosting fundraisers to keep middle school physical education classes from being cut and by creating performing arts programs aimed at high school students.
Despite all the daunting challenges, Vallejo’s future looks brighter than ever as Christians in the community are armed with strategies for serving not just each other, but their neighbors, coworkers and city. Michael Brown, owner of a local transportation company, was one of the very first in the Vallejo area to attend a seminar with Ed Silvoso and quickly brought the concept of marketplace ministry to his pastor Danny Jefferson. The idea that ministry and service should be a lifestyle practiced by every Christian regardless of their vocation was eagerly adopted by Pastor Jefferson and quickly spread to other churches in the area. Mayor Davis had been a childhood friend of Brown’s and in the lead up to the election, Brown, Jefferson and others local pastors and marketplace leaders began a full-out prayer campaign that obviously bore fruit.
On February 26th Mayor Davis hosted a prayer breakfast organized by the Vallejo Faith Community, a coalition of Christians in Vallejo. The Visitors & Convention Bureau, the president of the Maritime Organization, and other civic leaders all came together to plan the breakfast, just the second meeting of its kind. Close to 500 people attended. Several city leaders shared moving stories of how important the support they received from the community was. For example, the principal of Peoples High, a local continuation school, shared how being “adopted” by a local church as part of the “Adopt-a-School” program had changed their school. Although they are going through serious challenges, they know they are not alone. The support comes in many forms whether sponsoring and organizing a holiday celebration, organizing a community wide job fair, or donating copy paper when the school ran out and had no budget for it. The students have noticed the outpouring of support, and it has given them new hope to turn their lives around.
-Mayor Osby Davis
At the conclusion of this event, Mayor Davis quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people… seek my face… I will heal their land,” then he declared, “We are facing tough times but each of you need to get involved to do your part. If we do our part, I believe God will heal this city.” The members of city council joined him on the platform as he concluded by declaring: “We are in bankruptcy right now, but we all believe that this city will be one of the most desirable cities in the nation.” As I drove home along the beautiful Vallejo waterfront enjoying the warm California day, I felt the beautiful weather was God’s way of saying that he thought so too. After all Vallejo is his city.
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