HEALING AND HOPE FOR BATON ROUGE

From the September/October Issue of In A Word

This past summer the people of Baton Rouge, Louisiana were at the center of senseless murders that led to protests and sometimes violence. Then to make matters worse they endured catastrophic flooding. Through it all the people of St. Paul the Apostle Church kept the faith and are striving to build bridges not walls between people as seen from the following article.

At the end of the prayer service over 200 balloons were released. Circling the prayer garden parishioners in the center of the circle held 5 red balloons symbolizing the blood of Alton Sterling, the 3 police officers and the countless, unnamed victims of murder and injustice. They were released first. Followed by 100 blue balloons symbolizing the hope that we are making a change for the better in our community...

In July over 200 members of St. Paul the Apostle celebrated a prayer service for healing and for hope for the entire Eden Park Community, for Baton Rouge and for our nation. St. Paul was directly effected by the recent violence and deaths that have happened in in Baton Rouge. Mr. Alton Sterling, shot by police was a man in our neighborhood; Officer Montrell Jackson, one of three police officers who were killed was the nephew of one of our parishioners. Violence that causes the death of anyone tears at the very fabric of our lives and our community. With so many deaths and so much violence around us, we feel the pain, the fear, frustration and the justifiable anger deeply but we also feel a deep need to respond it way that begins to bring healing and justice so that we will be able to live in peace with one another. Read more...