Community comes together to pray for peace in wake of shootings

Recent fatal shooting incidents involving police officers and black men and a sniper ambush of police officers in Dallas, Texas last week have, as one local faith leader put it, torn “the fabric of Old Glory.”

That was Bishop Geoffrey V. Dudley Sr., minister at New Life in Christ Church at 689 Scott Troy Road in O’Fallon, who hosted a prayer vigil featuring metro-east faith leaders and NAACP officials to pray for peace in the wake of those incidents. Attendees of the vigil nearly filled the church.

Clergy members also urged local police officials and political figures to denounce police violence and work to ensure incidents that have rocked other parts of the country do not not occur in the metro-east.

Early on July 5, police in Baton Rouge, La., fatally shot Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who officers said was selling CDs in a convenience store parking lot when police responded to the area for a report of an armed man. Sterling was pinned to the ground by officers when he was fatally shot.

The next evening, Philando Castile, 32, of suburban St. Paul, Minn., was fatally shot during a traffic stop. Castile had a permit allowing him to carry a concealed firearm and his family members have said he was reaching for his wallet, not a gun, when the officer who pulled him over shot him several times. Castile was originally from St. Louis County.

Then, on Thursday, as protests over the shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota were ongoing in Dallas, Texas, a shooter opened fire on several police officers assigned to to the rally. Four Dallas Police Department officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer were killed in the attack and several more officers were injured. Dallas police have said that attack was “payback” for the Louisiana and Minnesota incidents.

“The fabric of our country, indeed Old Glory, is being torn apart by fear, racism, ignorance and hatred,” Dudley said. He said members of a community can change the country through prayer, relationships and understanding. “We have to learn how to live together with all of our differences.”

Prayers of healing were offered in abundance, both for the families of Sterling and Castile as well as those of the officers killed and injured in the Dallas attack.

Reverend Norma Patterson, president of the United Congregations of the Metro East, said it was by divine providence that she was praying for police officers Monday. Her son-in-law is an Illinois State Police trooper.

“I live in the house with (an officer). He needs prayer,” she said.

Stanley Franklin, president of the East St. Louis NAACP chapter, said “last week was a horrible week for the black and the blue.”

“Two African American men were killed by police officers. Five police officers were slain,” he said. “We extend our condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in that series of tragedies. We share their pain and their loss. To those who wear the badge, we appreciate you. We thank you for the dangerous work you do every single day to keep our streets safe.”

Franklin urged anyone upset over the recent incidents to remain calm and avoid violence, recalling the time his late son was pulled over by a police officer and was treated poorly. Franklin said he had to give his son “what we call the talk.”

Franklin told his son “be in compliance. Obey the police officer. Follow the instructions of the police officer. If it’s dark outside, turn the dome light on. Put your hands where they can see them so there be no mistakes in regard to an accident that could happen.”

“As I was talking to my son, he said, ‘Well, dad, what if the police officer is wrong?’ I said, ‘Son, even if he’s wrong, follow the instructions. Because I don’t want you to end up dead right,’” Franklin said.

Patterson added that when other means fail, community members need to pound the pavement to push for peace.

“We’ve forgotten the door to door. They don’t come to church like they used to. So we gotta go to them,” she said. “We need troops. We need people. We need supporters.”

Dudley ended the vigil by telling the story of an encounter he had with some Muslim leaders during his deployment to Saudi Arabia as a U.S. Air Force chaplain. During a meal he shared with them, “we tried to convert one another,” Dudley said.

“We didn’t succeed,” Dudley said. “But we succeeded in getting to know one another.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Community comes together to pray for peace in wake of shootings."