Dozens of people gather again to pray for peace on Peoria’s Southside - 25 News Now

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PEORIA (25News Now) - Early Saturday afternoon, people from different denominations, ethnicities, and churches gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Park for prayer.

“I believe in the power of prayer,” said Milton Boyce, a Peoria native. “I believe that if we come together collectively to pray, then we can come together to make other positive solutions for effective change in our community.”

Boyce planned this prayer session with community churches weeks before the consecutive violence that Peoria had seen over the past few days.

“What was driving us even before the rash of shootings is the violence, the poverty, and the effects of the residue of racism,” said Reverend Irene Lewis-Wimbley from the Pekin First Church of the Nazarene.

“After the shootings, I was like, we got to do this; we got to link up,” said Boyce.

So they did. Dozens of people joined hands to pray for peace in the city.

“We’re praying for the families and children in the community, we’re praying for peace, we’re praying for children to come to better solutions to resolve their differences, and just praying for our community as a whole,” said Boyce.

Lewis-Wimbley is also the Director of the Southside Community Center in Peoria.

“This is my backyard, these are my neighbors, and I wanted to make sure that we’re loving our neighbors and that the church comes together in unity and be known for love,” said Lewis-Wimbley.

After the prayer, everyone was invited to the Southside Community Center to discuss possible solutions.

“I feel like our solutions are the power of relationship,” said Lewis-Wimbley. “Do we know our neighbors? Do we know what their needs are? What their strengths are.”

Lewis-Wimbley says asking the churches to come together will help turn the violence around.

“We must be a reflection of our community. Let us be one. May we be one,” said Lewis-Wimbley.

They hope after Saturday’s vigil, people and all churches can gather more frequently to pray.

“Before bad gets to worse, I would like us to come together quarterly or annually and pray anyways just over our community before the dire need to do so,” said Boyce.

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