Tulsa, Oklahoma, has almost 2000 evangelical churches, ministries, training centers, and universities. Thousands of students come from around the world to study at the beautiful Oral Roberts University and the training centers housed in the city’s mega-churches. Meeting around the teachings of Jesus and praying in His Name are commonplace, making Tulsa an unlikely location for controversy over a prayer of blessing prayed at a high school graduation class.
The fallout occurred when Tulsa Public School Board member E’Lena Ashley stepped up to the podium on Friday, May 20, 2023, and prayed a simple prayer of blessing in the Name of Jesus over the new graduates of Tulsa’s East Central High School. The firestorm that followed shook the town and, ultimately, the state.
Standing before the students and their families, E’Lena unfolded the paper she thought contained her well-worded prayer of blessing. She looked down and realized she held the dry cleaner’s receipt for cleaning her commencement robe. After the initial shock, she asked for God’s help. Okay, Lord, It’s just You and me. Help me to remember my prayer of blessing I wrote for these children. She breathed a deep breath and prayed: I pray in the Name of Jesus Christ that each one of you would walk forward from this moment in the excellence and love of God. That He would guide you, direct you, and draw you to your ultimate goal. With that, she proceeded to deliver her prepared commencement speech.
The prayer lasted eighteen seconds, but that one mention of the Name of Jesus set off a firestorm of adverse reactions far beyond reason, thrusting E’Lena into a vicious attack against her personally.
The local newspaper derided her with a barrage of negative articles. Social media trolls called her names and harassed her. The Tulsa Public School Superintendent and a fellow board member wrote open letters condemning her for violating the U.S. Constitution and the TPS students’ religious rights. In a matter of days, the threats of lawsuits began. The first threat came from the Wisconsin Law Firm Freedom from Religion Foundation. Their website states they actively pursue cases they perceive violate the First Amendment.
Serving the last fifteen months as a new school board member, E’Lena was no stranger to controversy. Throughout her fifteen-month tenure on the TPS school board, E’Lena proved she is unafraid to speak up for the students she represents. She has refused to approve blanket budget proposals. After TPS uncovered an embezzlement scheme by a Tulsa School Administrator of over $343,000, E’Lena asked Oklahoma Governor Stitt for a forensic audit of TPS, and the Governor approved. She advocates for more emphasis on the students learning academic basics. She has called for the TPS Superintendent’s resignation, whose student performance has steadily declined during her eight-year tenure. E’Lena’s goal is to hold the school accountable.
It’s not like the school didn’t need prayer. As the most extensive school system in Oklahoma, with 69 schools that serve 32,569 students, TPS has a dismal record of student performance. The average reading proficiency in TPS is 16.7 percent, 4.6 percent in math, and 14.2 percent in science. Last year TPS reported over 30 incidents of weapons during the fall semester.
E’Lena knew her District 4 students needed help and, in 2022, decided to run for an open school board position. With almost four decades of work experience, her qualifications range from serving in U.S. Military Intelligence Program, working in Washington, D.C., for Veterans Affairs, to raising three children as a single mom.
The ramifications of her prayer spread throughout Oklahoma like the 4th of July fireworks. Oklahoma’s conservative community got a taste of the spiritual resistance E’Lena endured when they attended a public rally where the Oklahoma Secretary of Education presented over 2000 letters of support for E’Lena’s graduation prayer amid heckling protesters.
E’Lena’s reminds us as intercessors to pray for newly elected school board members as they enter a position where the battle is intense and persecution is real, especially for those who sincerely care about the students and their physical and spiritual well-being.
E’Lena’s example exemplifies the need to pray in the Name of Jesus whenever asked to pray over any event. That small deed can change our nation. The words of Samuel Adams are as valid today as when he spoke them over 200 years ago. It doesn’t take a majority to prevail but rather an irate, tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.
You can learn more about E’ Lena and how to pray and support her at ElenaAshley.com.
Originally posted on Intersessors for America.