The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition hosted a Memorial Day service at New Northside Church on Monday to draw attention to violence in the city. The service included 52 candles, each with the name of a person who had died from violence in St. Louis this year.
The service was part of the Week of Prayer to Curb Violence that continues through Friday. At the ceremony Monday, the Rev. Rodrick Burton moved along the front of the sanctuary, picking up a candle and blowing out the flame as his wife spoke the names of violence victims.
Javier Orozco, director of Hispanic ministries for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, said “Our churches, our faith community can be those places where young people can come to forgive.”
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