Determined to oppose a wave of violence in their neighborhoods, Christians
from 18 different denominations marched for peace in the community of Mountain
View, a densely populated section that has been torn by violence in the last
year. Reports indicate that 20 people have been murdered in that district of the
country's capital, Kingston, since June 19 alone.
On Sunday, August 10,
the 300 marchers converged on a central point barricaded for a community church
service hoping to make a two-week halt in violence more than temporary.
Religious leaders offered ten different prayers--one concerning
political problems, one for the youth, one for spiritual commitment, and some
for specific troubled communities. The peace management community leader and the
president of the ministerial fraternity of denominations gave speeches.
Carl Cunningham, pastor of three Seventh-day Adventist churches in the
area, delivered the sermon. He spoke of the need for a spiritual community which
would lay the foundation for community growth.
“Violence has escalated
so much that we couldn’t move freely...people are afraid to move about sections
of the district,” Cunningham told the Adventist News Network.
Leaders of
13 denominations met back in July to discuss solutions to the escalating
violence. “They came together initially to expand fraternity among their
denominations to bring the community together spiritually first and then social
projects would follow,” said Cunningham. They organized the Aug. 10 event.
Members representing a total of eighteen denominations went out to the
streets Aug. 9 distributing fliers and announcing the next day’s march with
public address systems in cars. People lent their sound systems and flat bed
trucks for the march.
Concluding the Sunday afternoon rally,
participants made smaller groups for prayer for peace in their community. “It
was a high spiritual program, uplifting, fiery program,” said Cunningham.
Cunningham was assigned to pastor the Johnson Town, Rollington Town, and
Roosevelt Avenue Adventist Churches eight months ago. During the last 12 months,
violence has increased dramatically.
Some months ago Cunningham gathered
the elders of his church together to find solutions for the community. “We
realized…that we could not do it alone, so we sought the leaders of other
denominations,” said Cunningham.
Members of the ministerial fraternity
plan to continue meeting once a month to offer counseling services for the
community. The group plans to continue its cooperation among denominational
leaders.
Copyright © 2003 Adventist News Network .
Read the bottom of this
page for reproduction requirements.
ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors. Our news includes dispatches from the church's international offices and the world headquarters.
Reproduction
Requirements:
Reproduction of information in this article is encouraged.
When reproducing this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist
News Network" must appear under the headline or immediately following the
article. The words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be given equal
prominence to any other source that is also acknowledged.
ANN Staff: Ray Dabrowski, director; Mark Kellner, assistant director for news; Wendi Rogers, editorial coordinator; Ansel Oliver, editorial assistant; Lynn Friday, administrative assistant
French translation by Claude Fivel, Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata