Groups hold anti-hate service
POTTSTOWN » In the wake of the tragic events in Charlottesville, Va., religious leaders and community members in Pottstown gathered for an anti-hate prayer service Sunday afternoon.
About 50 people met on a shady hill overlooking a prayer garden outside First Presbyterian Church to sing songs, read scripture and pray with one another.
The Rev. Kerry Pidcock-Lester and her husband the Rev. Carter Lester, co-pastors of First Presbyterian, as well as the Rev. Dr. Vernon Ross Jr., of Bethel Community Church of Pottstown, and the Rev. Kay Bender-Braun, of St. James Lutheran Church, said the service was a time for healing and coming together as a community to denounce hate and pray for peace.
A woman was killed and 19 others injured after a car plowed through a group of counter-protesters demonstrating against an alt-right and white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 13. The incident has sparked nationwide protests over the past week and reignited debate about race relations in the nation.
Ross called Sunday’s service
“much needed” following the news from Charlottesville.
“It gave us all an opportunity to really share what we were feeling,” he said, “and to demonstrate that we are a people of peace.”
As the word from Charlottesville spread, Ross remembered feeling a mixture of anger, sadness and disgust, he said.
“I grew up in Mississippi and I remember the stories from my parents and some of the things I even experienced myself,” he said. “And it took me back to that time when we were not treated as equals. To see that in 2017 is sickening.”
Dressed in purple to commemorate Heather Heyer, who died in the Charlottesville attack, Ross also criticized Trump’s response to the violence saying there were not “fine people on both sides.”
Pidcock-Lester said the service was intended as a way for people of all faiths to come together to grieve and pray.
“And to stand as a sign of love that can overcome the power of hate and divide,” she said, calling the news from the past week “a heartbreak.”
“I think the heartbreak goes across any kind of political spectrum,” she said.
The service, she said, was originally planned to be held in First Presbyterian’s prayer labyrinth, which is modeled after the prayer pattern found in the Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France. Sunny conditions however made it too hot to keep it there, so the venue was moved to the prayer garden instead. That said, the labyrinth is open and available for public use.
“We would love for the community to know that they can come and use it,” she said.
Community members in attendance gave stellar reviews to the service Sunday, saying it was much needed.
“I guess my main thought
is that we take away the wisdom that we shared here and share it in our daily lives,” said John Foster, of Douglassville.
“I thought it was beautiful,” said Kay Vogt, of Lower Pottsgrove. “I thought it was beautiful and I’m so glad that different congregations came, different races came. It was beautiful. We all worship the same lord and we all need to work together.”