A Nashville pastor and church has planned to visit Orlando ahead of conference to connect and pray with Pulse terror attack families.
Bishop Joseph Walker, presiding bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship and pastor of Mt Zion here in Nashville is taking his team to Orlando to make a difference. "I think it's important," he said. "There's so much hopelessness, despair, disillusionment and we want to be a light in the mist of all of that."
The church's international conference was already scheduled for the end of this month, then the unthinkable happened. A mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub on June 12.
"It certainly affected the narrative,' said Walker. "Obviously were certainly praying for the victim's families and those affected directly or indirectly by this senseless tragedy."
The plan is to engage victim's families. "We are having prayer lines during our conference as well as a moment of silence and reflection about this kind of violence in our community and our world," said Walker
The exact opposite of the mission of a baptist church visiting out of California. Its pastor drew outrage after praising the Orlando massacre. Walker said he understands why.
"I'm incredibly appalled by it that someone would use the pulpit to inflict violence theologically upon any group of people," he said. "I think the gospel I read is a gospel of loving, a gospel of tolerance and a gospel of helping us be one."
If we can do this and be strong, Walker says we win. "You can not live in fear,' he said. "You have to live your life in a place of doing good and loving people and trusting God."
