For the first time since the pandemic, the Dodgers hosted a Christian Faith and Family Day at the ballpark yesterday.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, posted a video about the event, inviting people to attend.
Christian musician Jeremy Camp performed and actor Chris Pratt, an outspoken Christian, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. After the game, Kershaw and some teammates shared their testimonies.
In late May, Kershaw announced the “relaunch” of the Christian Faith and Family Day, tweeting that the team is “grateful for the opportunity to talk about Jesus and determined to make [the event] bigger and better than it was before COVID.” The Dodgers’ previous Christian Faith and Family Day was held in 2019.
This year’s faith-focused event followed the team’s Pride Night in June. The Dodgers extended, then rescinded, then re-extended an invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an LGBTQ advocacy group whose members dress in drag as nuns. Backlash from religious organizations was swift when they learned the Dodgers would be honoring the Sisters with a community award.
Kershaw decided not to boycott the Pride Night game. He called the Christian event “a great opportunity to see the platform that Jesus has given us and how to use that for his glory and not ours.”