After a week of racially-charged killings that rocked the nation, many South Floridians sought solace and community in Sunday church services, seeking to replace grief and despair with reason to hope.
“Many people are wondering what’s gone wrong with our world,” Bishop Henry Fernandez told thousands of worshippers at the Faith Center in Sunrise.
“It’s not racism, not sexism, not classism. We need a heart transplant.”
The week’s tragedies include the fatal shooting of two black men by police in Baton Rouge, La., and Falcon Heights, Minn., followed by the slaying Thursday of five police officers in Dallas and the wounding of seven others.
“Last week was a tragic week in American history,” said Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, one of several public officials to share the stage with Fernandez.
From the pulpits of various churches, those looking to make sense of the week’s stunning events heard calls for prayer as well as pleas for understanding.
“That person may look different from you, but we’re all God’s children,” Fernandez said before asking his audience to give hugs to those in the pews around them.
Sunrise Mayor Michael Ryan echoed Fernandez’s call for embraces both physical and empathetic. “My heart aches from this week,” Ryan said. “Hug somebody. As one person said to me, ‘I love you and you can’t do anything about it.'”
Yet after an outbreak of violence that has raised disturbing questions about deep currents of division within the U.S., there seemed no easy answers.
At Fort Lauderdale’s Christ Church United Methodist, Pastor Brett Opalinski challenged his mostly white congregation “to go out this week and meet somebody a little different than we are,” according to longtime worshipper Fred Scarbrough.
Scarbrough, 65, a veterinarian who regularly volunteers to feed the homeless, said he and many others in his church were shaken by the videos showing black men who had been shot, and were moved by Opalinski’s heartfelt appeal to work to change society.
“I felt different walking out of the sanctuary,” Scarbrough said. “We need to do better, and I am hopeful. In our hearts we are not country with that kind of bigotry.”
At Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, Pastor David Hughes told his nearly 1,400 congregants to sing, pray and worship a little more than normally.
“There’s so much that is broken right now; there’s so much that is divisive right now,” he said. “This world is crazy right now, I’m seeing insanity right now. … “I believe I can be pro-cop and pro-black.”
After the evening service, about 300 people, most holding small white candles, attended a vigil in the expansive walkway and patio area near the north entrance to the church. A six-member band sang inspirational gospel songs.
Gaston DeFigueiredo, 49, who attended the service and vigil with his wife Jennifer DeFigueiredo, 42, said the sermon highlighted how all races should come together.
“I think we are drowning in one-sided rhetoric and partisanship and vitriol,” he said.
Shermone Mitchell, a volunteer at the church, said that while the past week was terrifying to watch, she holds out hope that the country will coalesce.
“All lives do matter, black lives do matter, being in a country that historically didn’t value black lives we are like ‘Hey guys, we matter.’ We’ve come a long way, I think we get comfortable in thinking everything is OK. This week showed us we have a long way to go.”
At St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Boca Raton, Monsignor Michael D. McGraw read a statement in which he recognized the sacrifice of police officers as well as the racial injustice that persists in the United States.
“Our prayers and loving concern are with all of the law enforcement officers and their families who gave their lives for the protection of others,” he said, speaking before congregation of blacks, whites and Hispanics. “We cannot express in words our gratitude for their unselfishness and courage. We also are united in solidarity and prayers for the innocent victims of recent racially motivated hatred and injustice and for their grieving families.
“We know that together as Americans, we need to tackle our serious problems of prejudice, discrimination, hate crimes and inequalities in matters of justice and equality under our laws, Constitution and Bill of Rights,” he said.
The vexing complexity of racial prejudice, police conduct and justice in the U.S. was illustrated in personal anecdotes from Fernandez and the Rev. Frank Kennedy Jr. at New Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale. Both are African-American, as are a majority of their congregants.
In an impassioned sermon, Kennedy said, “We pray for the [slain] police officers and their families. We pray for all law enforcement. We need them.
“But we have to deal with the senseless, unutterable killing of our black men.”
Drawing a metaphor from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Kennedy said, “America has created a beast, and that monster is called racism. You have to deal with it.”
Kennedy then told of being profiled himself by a white police officer who pulled him over for no apparent reason. “It’s real,” he said.
Fernandez’s personal story was more specific. With the sheriff standing at his side, the pastor said he had been stopped for speeding by Broward sheriff’s deputy who walked up to his car and said, “Boy, give me your license.” After writing the ticket, Fernandez said the officer threw it in his face.
The incident happened before Israel took office in January 2013, Fernandez said, and he did not report it. “I was offended by that,” he said. “But I didn’t want to die. He had a gun and I didn’t.
“Don’t pretend there is no problem between officers and the community,” Fernandez said. “There is a huge problem.”
