The Congregation That Opened Its Doors on a Monday

For years, Grace Community Church in Dalton, Georgia, held a January prayer-and-fasting week. Members skipped meals, filled the sanctuary for midday devotions, and posted scripture verses on social media. It was earnest and heartfelt — and it changed almost nothing. Then in 2019, a deacon named Marcus Rivera drove past the carpet mill on his way to the noon prayer service and noticed dozens of workers eating lunch in the January cold, sitting on overturned buckets in a gravel lot.…