A faith group in Stockton held a vigil as a show of support for those in Minneapolis after the killing of Alex Pretti.
"Today, we say to the people of Minnesota, you are not alone," Al Sheppard, First Thessalonians Missionary Baptist Church associate pastor, said. "To grieving families and fearful communities, the church sees you. The church stands with you. The church is praying for you."
Clergy and Stockton residents wanted Minneapolis to know that they are not alone, and so they held a 'Prayer Vigil for Justice, Unity, and Healing'.
"Just because this is happening in Minnesota and we're here in California, don't mean the same kind of injustices can't happen to us here, and us, as clergy, we are called to pray," Pastor Sheppard said. "And not just the clergy, our whole society. It is a time right now, in these times, this dispensation of time we're in right now, it calls for prayer from everyone. All denominations across all creeds, all colors."
Dozens of people throughout the community joined together in prayer in front of the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium, including the Smith family. Faith in the Valley executive director Pastor Curtis Smith was joined by his wife, Kristen, and their son, 7-year-old Joshua, who said he wants to see peace for the country and wants "everybody to be safe and nice".
"This next generation is seeing it all," Kristen Smith said. "This morning, seeing him watch the news and seeing just the tragedies that are happening in our country, it's almost like I want to shield him but I can't because it's all around. And the fact that he wants peace for our country, he doesn't want to see people fighting, it really makes a difference for him to say out of his own mouth that peace is what he wants to see for the next generation."
Pastor Smith said he would like to see unity in the country.
"There's so much division, polarization right now, especially things that are politicized," Pastor Smith said. "However, there is much more that brings us together if we don't allow systems and the forces that try to divide us and tell us that we're different (than) each other. So, I would like us to create a culture of honor, where we love each other for who we are and not punish the other for who we're not."
Faith in the Valley community organizer Richard Stoeckl told CBS News Sacramento he organizes with around 17 clergy in the San Joaquin clergy caucus, spanning different denominations. Clergy united in solidarity in light of what happened in Minnesota.
"Just feeling what the national climate is right now, it's a dark time, what it (feels) like, right, we're seeing constant images of people being brutalized on a national scale," Stoeckl said. "People are just afraid. People are wondering if it's going to happen in the community that they live in. So, right now, we just thought to invite clergy and allow clergy to do what they do best, which is pray for our people."
Pastor Sheppard said as clergy they fight on their knees, in prayer, and that they gather not as Democrats or Republicans, conservatives or progressives, but as people of faith who "believe justice still matters".
"Presidents and stuff, they come and go, parties, they come and go," Pastor Sheppard said. "But the only real thing that's going to stay here forever is going to be my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and He, in some kind of way, in our darkest time, is through prayer. That we put our trust in Him, that He will pull us through."
Faith in the Valley is a multiracial grassroots organization representing more than 120 congregations throughout the Central Valley, working to advance racial, economic, and environmental justice.
"My initial thought was, 'Here we go again.' But after the shock of just knowing that this can continue to happen, I just felt the need that I had to pray," Pastor Sheppard said. "And we was just out here, just praying about MLK Day, and his concept was that he didn't have to march alone or he didn't have to be alone."
Pastor Sheppard, in his message, also shared one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s well-known quotes: "an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
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