Student calls for action following Charlotte police shooting

by de’Angelo Dia-Jessup, M.Div. student

Although the events of Tulsa, OK, and Charlotte, NC are tragic, our collective faith is grounded in the ministry of grace and mercy. September 14, 2013, and the tragic killing of Jonathan Ferrell in Charlotte, North Carolina, often seems like a distant memory; however, the execution of Keith Lamont Scott is a reminder that we, as the body of Christ, have much work ahead of us.

I have received several calls and messages from families asking what Trinity will do to address this concern in our community and to combat this issue.

For those that are asking what will UPSem do to address this concern in our community and combat this epidemic, my response is simple “What will you, as a member of the UPSem Community, do?” Prayer without action is powerless. This crisis of abuse of authority will not be solved by one or two civic organizations, congregations, politicians, clergy or righteously frustrated protesters. This work must be a collective ministry of grace and mercy.

A Prayer for Peace
Dear God, we hear of peace only as a faraway dream;
we long for it in our lives, in the lives of our families,
our friends, and in the city of Charlotte.
But with each passing day
the prospect for peace
seems to be increasingly tantalizing.
Restlessness seems to be
the order of our present existence:
our inner restlessness rooted in various anxieties,
our societal restlessness rooted in
the evils that go on around us,
the restlessness of our world
plagued by conflicts of all sorts.

Dear God, we hear of peace only as a dream;
a dream we would love to be part of,
a dream we long to have in our hearts, in our neighborhoods,
in our countries, and even in our churches.

We pray that we may experience that peace
that passes all understanding,
we pray, O God, that we may experience You,
the Peace of the world.

Penetrate the grieving heart,
accompany the lonely one,
remember the forgotten,
reclaim the strayed,
make music out of the
disharmony of conflict and chaos.
Let our restless hearts rest in you, O God.
This we pray in the name of Christ,
who beckons us into the vision of Peace.

Amen.