Faith and Blue, the annual program to strengthen relations between local communities and law enforcement, took place Oct. 6-9 in several locations in and around Michigan State University.

The collaboration between the two entities – civilians and sworn officers – is all the more poignant this year on the heels of the murder of three MSU students and the wounding of five others on the East Lansing campus in February. On the MSU campus police and students, faculty and staff visit over cider and doughnuts accompanied by therapy dogs and police K-9s.

The program is initiated by the national Fraternal Order of Police and supported by clergy and congregations across the country.

The Department of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas underscores that Faith and Blue has a strong focus centered on cooperation and healing. Bringing these two important segments of the nation together serves “to unify and more effectively safeguard our communities across the country.”

St. Katherine’s Episcopal Church in Williamston, a town close to the MSU campus, again held a Faith and Blue event on October 1.  Another Faith and Blue event was held October 9 at MSU, on the main campus just across the river from where students were shot and killed.

For more information about Faith and Blue in mid-Michigan, contact Melissa Congleton at 517-410-2328 or pastor.stkatherines@gmail.com.