The neighborhood surrounding Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church on Herman Street in North Nashville was plagued with a string of gun violence.
The church had enough. What could be done to stem the tide? How could the church play its part in helping push for solutions?
"Crisis always calls us as a faith community to respond,” said the Rev. Charles L. White Jr., Gordon Memorial's pastor.
So in 2014, the church became the host site for one of Nashville's three Freedom Schools, a summer literacy program meant to disrupt the cradle-to-prison pipeline. It’s a Children's Defense Fund program with roots in the civil rights movement and one example of how the faith community is trying to combat youth violence in Nashville.
"The Lord was calling Gordon (Memorial) to understand that its responsibility was not only to the generation of then, but the generation of the future,” said White, who was not the pastor when the church opened up its doors to the program. “How can we curtail acts of violence?"
Indeed, as the city continues to search for answers in the aftermath of a violent 2015 for Nashville's youth, the faith community is helping combat the problem by targeting its root causes, such as limited educational opportunities and a lack of adult role models. It also is trying to provide hope.
[For more of this story, written by Holly Meyer, go to http://www.tennessean.com/stor...h-violence/87133138/]
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