Exactly one week after 26 people were killed at a church in Sutherland Springs, no one packed the pews inside Arlington's Fielder Church.
Instead, church members packed boxes of food out in the parking lot to help families in need.
The church cancelled all regular Sunday services, opting to commemorate the day with a congregation-wide service project.
"This is just a picture of what the church is supposed to look like," said Lead Pastor Jason Paredes as he watched church members pack the boxes."
Parades said it's been a sobering and heartbreaking week for many.
"We know people might be afraid to gather together," said Parades. "What if something were to happen at our church?"
And that's why he told his congregation that Sutherland Springs should be the heartbeat of their service project.
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"We're not gonna have a spirit of fear, we're gonna come and we're gonna serve because we're going to overcome evil with good," said Parades. "And so it really became a stake in the ground for us to say this is our chance to fight back [against] what took place."
A seemingly endless sea of church members who spent Sunday morning in the parking lot were eager to send that message.
"I think it's wonderful and it's the way we're supposed to do it," said Chris Wong, a member of Fielder Church. "We meet every Sunday to inhale the gospel. This is an opportunity for us to exhale and show the community that we do love them."
The church packed about 4,000 boxes of food which were then picked up and delivered by the Children's Hunger Fund.
