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Local church holds prayer circle to stop violence

Pastor Weathersby said he was going to talk about marriage and Valentine's Day, but he decided to change his message because of all the shootings that have occurred in the city recently.

NEW ORLEANS – There have been so many shootings in New Orleans in the last week. So much violence has taken place that one local church took their service to the scene of one of those shootings.

Sunday’s service at the New Hope Baptist Church in Central City was a little different than most.

The service started inside but it didn’t end when people left the church. The congregation walked a couple of blocks down to Felicity and Mangolia streets where Pastor Jamaal Weathersby and church members prayed.

“People are being gunned down on the streets day in and day out. Lord we know that’s not how you would have it to be, we ask you to change the narrative of Central city,” Weathersby prayed.

Dozens of people joined the prayer circle, including Linda Jones.

“It was just so refreshing to be out here with people who really care about this community, about the crime, about all the things that are going on in our city that we love so well,” Jones said.

It might be unconventional but Pastor Weathersby says that getting out in the community is an important part of his church’s ministry.

“I think it's our responsibility to show our visible support to the residents of the community, to offer prayers for the victims and families affected by violent crime, and to show that there is hope even though we are hurting,” Weathersby said.

It wasn’t just church members at the prayer circle. Jeffery Heard owns a restaurant at the intersection where the congregation gathered and says that he is here to help start change.

“We need that community support, that church support, because everything starts with the Lord Jesus because he is love,” he said.

Pastor Weathersby said he was going to talk about marriage and Valentine’s Day, but he decided to change his message because of all the shootings that have occurred in the city recently.

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