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Adventist Churches Show Up to Support the Black Community By Cynthia Mendoza
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n response to the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in Atlanta, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and George Floyd in Minneapolis, Adventist churches nationwide, including in the Pacific Union, have joined in public demonstrations of support for the Black community through protests, prayer walks, and vigils. Ahmaud Arbery was shot by civilians in February while out for a run near his home, Breonna Taylor was fatally shot in March by police officers while they were executing a search warrant, and George Floyd died during an arrest attempt by police officers in May. The following are just a few of the churches within the Pacific Union that have engaged in public support for the Black community. On Wednesday, June 3, members, pastors, and conference officers of the Southern California Conference marched from the University church to the California African American
On Sabbath afternoon, June 6, in Stockton, Calif., the Valley Community, Mayfair, and Pittsburg churches gathered for a Community Prayer Walk.
Museum in Exposition Park, Los Angeles. The event was a peaceful prayer protest and vigil. The group was joined by members of the community, a local business owner, a captain of the LAPD Southwest Division, and the captain of University of Southern California’s Department of Public Safety, who marched with them and addressed the people. The message of this event was clear: “Black Lives Matter and God’s voice matters” and to do nothing is to be complicit in the injustice. “We are surprised and devastated by continued police brutality, particularly against African Americans. It’s discouraging to see we’re still fighting the same battle for the last 100 years,” said Royal Harrison, SCC Greater Los
On Friday, June 5, the "We Deserve to Live – Black People Matter Rally, March, and Candlelight Vigil" took place at the Kianga Isoke Palacio Park (formerly known as Doolittle Park) in Las Vegas. Supported by the Abundant Life and New Life churches and friends, the event drew a crowd of 2,500.
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Angeles Region director. Conversely, Harrison said he was encouraged not just by the turnout at the march, approximately 300 to 350 people, but by the ethnic and age diversity of those who came to show support. “We all have to work together to make communities safe for everyone,” Harrison said. Also within SCC territory, in Long Beach in early June, youth and young adults met for a morning community walk during which they visited and prayed with people from businesses that had been affected by a recent riot in that area. “Never have we seen in our lifetime, a conference explicitly fight for social justice clearly,” read a statement on the One House Facebook page, a group of SCC youth and young adults, under a post of photos from the marches and protests. “We are proud POC [people of color], proud men and women, and proud members of the Southern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.”
