Interfaith prayer vigil hosted to honor victims of gun violence

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Members from the Charlottesville Clergy Collective, the African American Pastors Council, and UVA’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes came together for an interfaith prayer vigil honoring those lost to gun violence this year.

“It’s a call for us to pull together as a community and oppose the guns that caused so much pain and hurt in our community,” Mt. Zions First African Baptiste Church Pastor Alvin Edward said. “We gather together because we are an interfaced community of prayer and solidarity and want to impact what happens in Charlottesville and the Albemarle region of central Virginia.”

Edward is also a member of the B.U.C.K. Squad, an organization dedicated to reducing gun violence.

“As an act of public witness, we’re going to march to Tonsler Park to pray there, because that’s where one of the shootings took place,” Edward said.

Rodney Osborne is a Pastor at the Charlottesville Seventh Day Adventist Church and a member of the African Pastors Council.

“I’m hoping that things begin to change as we begin to shine light on the things happening in the community, because we want to make this community a better place for everyone,” Osborne said.

Once the groups arrived at Tonsler Park, they gathered in prayer and paid their respects to their fallen friends and family.

Edward says this is just the beginning of these prayer vigils, and he plans to hold one every month moving forward.

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