More than 100 people showed up at the Daviess County Courthouse lawn on Wednesday night to offer support in the fight against racial injustice with prayer and worship.
The event was put together by Matthews Table, though members of various churches in Owensboro were in attendance.
“We wanted to be part of the change. We were tired of being silent,” said Tamara Bostick, a member of Matthews Table. “You can make posts on Facebook all day long, but what does that really do unless you’re out here making a change?”
The event lasted roughly an hour, with a handful of people leading prayers in between several songs.
One of the messages shared by Rob Martin, a pastor at Matthews Table, was that change must start from within.
“So many times we get caught up in looking out for the answer, but I think the answer is found within,” he said. “If we’ll all do a heart search … I think we’ll begin to see that we all each have some measure of hate, some measure of racism, some measure of injustice that we have to really repent for.”
Rob’s brother Nick is also a pastor at the church. Nick said he was happy to see so many people come together for the same cause.
“We want to build bridges, not walls,” he said. “We want to tear down all these things that divide us — whether you’re Democrat or Republican, white or black, rich or poor. We want to start having conversations with people that don’t think like us, that don’t look like us, that don’t necessarily even believe like us.”
Bostick said about 15 people prayed and sang outside the Owensboro Police Department on Tuesday evening, so having such a big jump in numbers was a positive sign. She said it was important to actually get out in the community to spread their message of Christ being the answer.
“That means we have to leave the church and have boots on the ground and start loving people because God is what’s going to bring peace to this nation,” she said. “We’re taking a stand against the racism, against the hatred. … You can’t be a Christian and be racist. We’re all God’s children.”
Bostick said they hope to make it a weekly event, and Nick said he’s hopeful it catches on.
“I pray this isn’t a one-time event that doesn’t produce fruit,” he said.
Rob said he hopes to help everyone see they need to make the change within themselves.
“I believe that when that happens we’ll begin to see true change,” he said. “I think that if we begin to change ourselves, we’ll begin to see a changed world.”
