Chicago faith leaders are calling for prayer as the city continues to be plagued by gun violence.
This year alone, 300 minors have been shot, and 36 killed, in a city that is known for its unsettling degree of violence yet has seen numbers increase disturbingly in 2021.
“We’ve always had violence in Chicago, but never this bad,” Antonio Rocquemore, the senior pastor of Powerhouse International Ministries of Chicago told ABC 7.
Over the weekend, 62 people were wounded and 6 killed in firearm violence. 11 of the casualties were individuals younger than 18.
“Pastors and community activists are calling people to prayer in the face of this increased wave of violence in Chicago,” Faithwire notes. “Perhaps most shockingly is the number of children impacted by this violence. This year nearly 300 kids have been shot and at least 36 of them have died.”
This is indeed horrific. Violence this rampant most certainly deserves our attention, yet it is rarely a leading issue in the headline news.
So faith leaders in Chicago are taking their petitions to the Lord; we certainly must pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are living in and ministering to communities trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of violence and bloodshed.
Speaking to a prayer gathering that came after this past weekend’s violence, Bishop Larry Trotter told the crowd that “the killing must stop.”
Tiffany Renee Warren, who organized the prayer event, told local news that she’d called together these prayer warriors “there’s power in unity and there’s power in prayer.”
Her event was attended by over 100 people and lasted about an hour.
“We saw what can happen when we march. We saw what can happen when we protest,” she told ABC.
“It lets them know that we are concerned and lets them know that we see what’s happening,” Rocquemore said. “We’re losing our next generation to gun violence.”
“We’re asking our young generation today to open up your hearts and come out and give us a chance,” said activist Troy Gaston.
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