WASHINGTON — After a series of shootings in D.C.'s Ward 4, faith leaders there are holding a 72-hour prayer vigil to pray for an end to the violence.
The mantra is: "Do no harm! We must disarm!"
At least eight churches will take turns opening their doors to anyone who wants to come inside to pray or share ideas for solutions.
Reverend Scott Bostic, pastor at Simpson Hamline United Methodist Church, said the faith community felt they needed to act after multiple children were injured by gunfire in the first few weeks of January -- in Ward 4 alone.
Monday, a Safe Passage worker was shot outside of Coolidge High School -- which saw another shooting nearby Friday.
Just a few days in, an 8-year-old was injured in a quadruple shooting in Brightwood Park.
About a week later, two kids were shot getting off a Metrobus in the same neighborhood.
"We also thought it was really important for us to take time to not just pray... but wanting to make sure that we were also creating a safe space for people to listen as well," Rev. Bostic said.
He said the vigil is also bringing together people of different denominations and faiths, like Baptist, Lutheran, and Jewish to show they’re all united in wanting to stop the violence plaguing their community and kids.
“This is an opportunity for us as faith leaders within this part of Washington, D.C. to come together and to show a message of unity that we care about the people of our community, we care about the safety of our community. And we want to work with the members of the community and the leaders in our community to help be a part of making a positive change in this area," Rev. Bostic said.
He and other faith leaders planned this event with the support of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, with whom they hope to work moving forward.
“We want to make sure that our our community is feeling heard and feels like they have a safe space to come and share their feelings and their solutions," Rev. Bostic said. "And then after the 72 hours is over, we're going to come back together as a faith community, we're going to connect back with our council members, office and staff and the different leaders within our community. And we're going to talk about what our next steps are."
Rev. Bostic has a particularly interesting perspective. Before joining the clergy, he served in the Army in Iraq.
"I've seen across my life, right, there are times when violence can be the easiest or sometimes the most effective solution. But it's only a short term solution, right? It doesn't ever solve the long term problem," he said. "We knew when we deployed over there that the U.S. Army being there wasn't the long term solution. The long term solution was people coming together across differences and having conversations about what their needs were and how they could work together. And so I'm really hopeful and committed as a part of this community in Ward 4 and in D.C., to help us come together and to have conversations that don't involve weapons that don't involve violence so that we can work together to solve problems, and help people to have their needs met in in the most effective way possible."
Rev. Bostic said that at 7 p.m. each day, one church will host a special event.
You are able to join virtually here.
These 72 hours of prayer and listening will last until 7pm on Thursday.