Four Dallas faith leaders joined together Saturday to deliver prayers all relating to George Floyd.
The service was held at the Dallas West Church of Christ. Each prayer lasted for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, representing the amount of time fired Minneapolis police Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck, which was captured on video.
The four prayers represented four themes: reconciliation, unity, healing and peace.
“Just as George Floyd used his last breaths to cry out to his deceased mother, we cry out to you today, Father, please make it stop,” Minister John Mark Davidson of Skillman Church of Christ preached.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson was also at the service Saturday. Johnson said he attended Dallas West Church of Christ as a child and acknowledged it was the same church that Botham Jean attended.
Jean was murdered by then-officer Amber Guyger in 2018 when she entered his apartment and shot him. Guyger told a Dallas County jury she believed he was an intruder in her apartment.
Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 2019 for second-degree murder.
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“To us, George Floyd and to many others George Floyd is a symbol. For many of us hopefully he’ll be a catalyst for greater social change that’s needed in our country,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we can’t lose sight of the fact that George Floyd was an actual flesh and blood human being who had hopes and dreams. He had plans of waking up the next day and going to bed that night like everybody else and died a horrible, cruel death that involved him being absolutely terrified.”
The fight for social change has been long in the works and the daily protests will eventually become less frequent, Johnson stressed. However, he added the issue has never been the efforts of the protesters.
It’s opposition to change, he said.
“If you believe that prayer works, and I do, then pray that we have a conversion of men’s and women’s hearts and minds whose opinions on this actually matter,” Johnson said. “Then maybe we’ll get the change that we so richly deserve.”
