Castle Rock pastor opens Colorado House with prayer on parental rights

Bryan Fields, the lead pastor of Grace Chapel Castle Rock, opened the Colorado House in prayer at the Capitol in Denver, asking for truth, justice, protection of children and parental rights as lawmakers moved through the 2026 session. Rep. Max Brooks, a Republican who represents House District 45 in Douglas County, welcomed Fields and cast the moment as a reminder that state decisions carry moral weight.

Fields has been in full-time ministry for more than twenty years and also teaches homiletics as adjunct faculty at Denver Seminary. Grace Chapel says he leads with a vision for “Douglas County getting right with God, real with people, and ready for mission,” a message that matched the pastoral tone of the House chamber appearance and the church’s growing presence in public life.

The prayer landed at a time when parental rights remain one of the sharpest policy fights at the Capitol. In 2024, lawmakers considered HCR24-1005, a proposed Parents’ Bill of Rights that would have spelled out parental authority over education, upbringing, moral or religious training, medical consent, school choice, access to records and notice of gender incongruence. Colorado’s Legislative Council Staff also noted that earlier bills in 2020, including HB20-1063 and HB20-1144, were postponed indefinitely.

That legislative history gives added context to the language Fields used. His focus on child protection and parental rights echoed arguments that have circulated in recent debates, including a July 2025 Colorado Politics report that quoted parents and faith-based advocates saying state policies on transgender-related issues had overreached, while other advocates argued parental rights had not been eroded and that more legal clarity was needed.

Brooks has also made child-safety concerns part of his own public messaging this year. In January 2026, he co-authored an opinion piece arguing that Colorado law contributed to a case involving a man convicted of sexually assaulting a child. Brooks serves on the Business Affairs & Labor, Finance, Legislative Audit Committee, and Transportation, Housing & Local Government committees, giving him a broad role in the policy debates now moving through the House.

The 2026 regular session convened on January 14 and is scheduled to adjourn on May 13, putting added urgency on the coalition Brooks and Fields were signaling in the chamber. Grace Chapel’s public work, including civic engagement and care for hurting parents, has increasingly intersected with those debates, making the pastor’s prayer less a ceremonial gesture than a public marker of Douglas County’s influence at the Capitol.