Every Sunday Oasis Church has filled its halls with people from different backgrounds. Black, white, young, and old, at Oasis they have celebrated their diversity, but they all shared the same sentiment: After a horrible week of violence, something needs to change.
"It's just a sad, sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in in this country," Denise Marcia, a member of the church, said. "Something has got to change."
Sunday's sermon was supposed to be about an Olympian overcoming obstacles, but following the events in Dallas, Louisiana, and Minnesota, the topic changed.
"We're praying, we're worshiping together, we're walking in unity, we're walking in love, we're walking in peace, and we just want to see, okay God, what's our next step," Adonis Lenzy, senior associate pastor, said while speaking about the recent violence and how to respond.
In churches all around the country, passages from the Bible and quotes from people who believed in equality were shared, hoping to use what we've learned in the past, but focusing on what lies in our future.
"If we take what is already done and build on it rather than allow it to continue to hurt us and perpetuate that prejudice, then we can move past it," Jillian Chambers, co-founding pastor of Oasis Church, said.
Oasis Church planned to join other area churches for a prayer convergence at Bethel World Outreach Center in Brentwood at 6 p.m. Sunday.
