Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker asks churches to get more civically involved
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker has asked Tarrant County faith leaders to come to City Council meetings and saturate them in prayer.
The request came during a meeting with faith leaders organized by Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare to discuss threats of violence against government officials. Texas Rep. Nate Schatzline, a pastor at Mercy Culture Church, posted a video about the meeting to the church’s Instagram account.
“I did not realize how spiritual this battle for our city was,” Schatzline quoted Parker saying during his sermon.
Parker told the gathering that government officials have received a record number of death threats and mentioned a December 2022 incident when a casket bearing the names of people killed by police was left on her lawn, according to Schatzline.
A spokesperson for Parker confirmed the meeting.
“As a guest, Mayor Parker attended a meeting of faith leaders from across the community, and at that time she asked for prayers for the city and its leadership,” Kinsey Clemmer said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
Parker has been asking different groups for months to attend council meetings and see how city business actually works, Clemmer said, adding the mayor plans to reiterate this call during her Oct. 16 State of the City address.
Fort Worth council member Alan Blaylock, who also attended the meeting, said in a text message to the Star-Telegram that O’Hare and Parker asked the faith leaders to be aware of how city and county policy could affect their congregations.
“To my knowledge, all comments were to the entire audience. If there was a direct conversation with one participant, I was not a part of it,” Blaylock said, adding that the meeting messages were all positive.
Schatzline said in a text message to the Star-Telegram that Parker and O’Hare invited the faith leaders to pray, show up and be civically engaged.
“Prayer is a good thing and Fort Worth needs a lot of it,” Schatzline said in a text.
Schatzline said no one was asked to show up to speak during public comment sessions at meetings, although he surmised some church members would take up the call.
“I believe the Mayor wants Churches to be more civically engaged and I’m grateful for that!,” Schatzline said.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat, raised concerns about the prospect Mercy Culture was invited to speak. Veasey posted a comment on the church’s Instagram account.
“Very symbolic group from when the church was on the wrong side of civil rights and justice. Very throwback. Pray he is exaggerating. Like is so often,” Veasey said.
Schatzline responded to Veasey’s comment asking if the congressman thought it was racist to speak out against political violence or frame local politics as a spiritual battle in need of prayer.
“This is why we say Democrats make everything about race. Sad,” Schatzline said in his response to Veasey.
Parker has come under fire from left-leaning political groups for a comment during a Sept. 30 council meeting when she appeared to accuse nonprofit leader Patrice Jones of being involved in the casket incident.
Several groups have called for the mayor to apologize for the comment, and have been rallying residents to make that demand during the Oct. 14 public comment meeting.
Schatzline made his own call to action, asking members of Mercy Culture to also show up at the Oct. 14 council public comment meeting in support of political leaders facing threats of violence, according to a video posted by his political group For Liberty and Justice.
“Let’s show up and be the light of the word. Revival is not coming. Revival is here. It is on us church,” Schatzline said.
The Oct. 14 council meeting will take place at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Fort Worth Trail.
This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 12:36 PM.
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