On a Sunday morning inside the Good Street Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, a song of praise and words of thanks filled the hall where church members gathered together for breakfast.
But Head Pastor Eddie Jenkins admitted there's also growing concern.
"We are experiencing sorrow across the city," Jenkins said.
Sorrow for a spike in violent crime in Dallas. From January 1 to May 31, there were nearly 100 murders and more than 2,000 aggravated assault cases reported across the city.
It's a significant increase, the likes of which Dallas has not experienced in decades.
"We are actively engaged in and aggressively fighting crime," Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall said. "Gangs, guns, and drugs have been a focus and will continue to be a focus."
Speaking to members of the city council last week, Hall laid out the department's efforts to combat the problem, which include summer crime initiatives, targeted enforcement and a homicide task force.
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But she said there's only so much they could do alone.
"So we're looking at the community to be able to assist us in that process," Hall said.
Jenkins said he agreed that the community had a responsibility to look out for one another and to speak up when they see bad things happening in their neighborhoods.
But as a church, he said he believed there's something even more powerful they can offer.
"Love is need of love today," Jenkins said. "And if we can allow the love of God to motivate us and drive us and guide us, it will begin to turn the tide of everything that's happening our community."
It's why he encouraged his congregation to "let the light shine" in all their actions and words, so that it might be shared with others -- and in turn, help change the culture of violence and hate.
"There are just as many people that are doing great things in our communities as those that are doing horrific things in our community," Jenkins said. "We're just going to have to let our light shine brighter."
Hall said the department would also continue to devote attention and resources to hiring more officers. A professional study the city ordered to look in-depth at DPD's hiring issues was expected to be completed later this summer.
In the meantime, Gov. Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide additional manpower and resources to the Dallas Police Department in the short term to help combat the spike in crime.
