Atlanta faith leaders are calling on area churches to come together to combat gun violence.
Darryl Winston, executive director of Save Our City Coalition, described Atlanta as a “war zone” due to the number of shootings that have taken place in the past six months, including the Midtown shooting last week.
Winston and other Atlanta faith leaders held a press conference Thursday on the 17th Street bridge, near where 12-year-old Zyion Charles and 15-year-old Cameron Jackson were fatally shot in November 2022. Last year 19 children and teens were among the city’s 170 homicide victims.
“If we don’t do something, Atlanta can and will burn again,” Winston said. “We wanted the city residents to know, while several are living under the threat of violence and fear, faith leaders who are here today and representatives who are supporting us, we are the answer to the wrong.”
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@
Pastor Richard Dalton has been training faith leaders on how to help their communities fight gun violence for years through his Joshua Transformation Project, aimed at ending gun violence.
The training is being offered at First Iconium Baptist Church by Dalton, who has been training churches in Clayton County and some in Fulton County. Dalton said churches have a moral obligation to stand up and do something about gun violence plaguing the city.
“We need a united front against gun violence in our neighborhoods,” Dalton said. “If you have a mother that has lost her child due to gun violence and she is coming to your church, you have moral obligation to invest in that mother.”
Winston applauded efforts by Mayor Andre Dickens and the city to address gun violence among young people but said successfully combatting violence will “take radical measures. It’s going to take some measures that is going to require greater symmetry between political leaders and the faith community.”
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