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by Melissa Lauber
UMConnection Staff

“Let us pray.” It’s an invocation used in churches throughout the world. But the Rev. Cynthia Moore-Koikoi is now using these three simple words to transform the city of Baltimore.

Moore-Koikoi, superintendent of the Baltimore-Metropolitan District, joins with United Methodists each Tuesday morning for prayer walks throughout different areas of the city.

Moving through Baltimore’s 65 neighborhoods, a handful of people from that neighborhood’s churches and others from throughout the district, walk along the city’s sidewalks and stop where the spirit moves them, offering prayer for the people and places before them.

In May, a group of about a dozen people were escorted by three Baltimore City police officers around the streets along North Avenue. The police had requested prayer for the neighborhood, where there was a homicide.

As they gathered on the street corner, two men introduced themselves to the group, wondering what was going on. As they walked, others from the neighborhood joined them, asking for prayer for specific homes and people they knew.

“The kids here grow up knowing they won’t grow old,” said Jamal, one of the people who joined the walking prayer group. “There’s drugs here. There’s shootings. These days, people don’t even look up when the police show up. That’s just the way things are here.”

The Rev. LaReesa Smith-Horn of Christ UMC in Baltimore, isn’t sure if or how the neighborhood will change. But she is certain of the power of prayer and of showing up. “The church must be present,” she said.

It was originally a surprise for Moore-Koikoi that people from the community so eagerly joined them.

“We listen,” she said. “And people have been, by and large, affirming. They say, ‘you guys keep doing what you’re doing.’ They also clearly articulate their needs to us. Some are trapped in addictions, one lady had gotten a bad report from her mammogram. Their message is we need you, the church, to be who you are. We’re all searching after wholeness.”

The variety of the city sometimes surprises the walkers. “We’ll pass a block of boarded up buildings and vacant lots and nothing but poverty, and five blocks up the road will be a cultural mecca. That’s what I love about Baltimore,” Moore-Koikoi said.

But more than learning about the city, the walkers learn about faith.

That’s especially true when people are willing to slow down, not talk as much, and allow God to reveal who God is. “We become open to what God wants us to see and feel,” said the superintendent. “I believe there are spiritual forces out there. When we speak words into the air, it makes a difference to the Holy Spirit. When we gather to pray we’ve been experiencing God.”

One of Moore-Koikoi’s favorite walks was on a snowy morning near the Inner Harbor, when she and the Rev. Dan Gleckler were the only two to come out. They stood together and prayed, watching the snow fall.

Moore-Koikoi also prays on the walks and countless other times during the day, for the churches she leads. “

My prayer for the churches of Baltimore is that they would be able to see their true potential,” she said. She prays each church and its members would know intellectually and on an emotional level what God has called them to do, and that they have all they need to accomplish that.

“We’re open to the Spirit,” she concluded, “whatever God puts in our path.”

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To learn more about the prayer walks and how you can join, contact Darlyn McCrae, the Baltimore Region Guide, at   or 410-309-3307.