News

Actions

Local church members wear black to raise awareness about violence

Posted at 3:39 PM, Feb 17, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-17 23:26:57-05

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Over a dozen pastors in Nashville wore black during Sunday services to make a statement against recent violence in the community.

Bishop Marcus Campbell said, "Somewhere we got to draw the line and say that's it, and I tell people, if we don't stand for something, we'll fall for anything."

Juvenile crime has been making headlines for months now in the Nashville area.

Campbell said, "It gotta stop."

Campbell called the kids to the front of the Church at Mt. Carmel to let them know his church is here for them.

"We're going to do the best we can so y'all can be whatever you want to be in life," Campbell said.

Carjackings, murders, and robberies aren't something you'd expect children to be responsible for, but church leaders and community members have watched as juveniles have been repeatedly charged in connection to the violence.

"We live in a time where people have lost their hope, where people have lost their appreciation for life."

Local churches are responding by coming together and demanding that the community rises up.

"Get more involved in the kids lives, it takes a village to raise a child, people need to start standing up in the communities, quit being scared," Campbell said.

Church leaders hope they can be a change agent.

Campbell told us he is tired of just seeing our kids go through what they're going through. He said that families are being hurt on both ends, whether it be those of the life being taken or the ones that are getting locked up.

10 churches in Arkansas joined in with Tennessee and participated in the 'black out against violence' movement on Sunday.