Mayor William Bell says he's often asked "Where do we go from here?" when it comes to violence. Wednesday, he told the congregation at the 16th Street Baptist Church he's calling on the men and women of God.
It was truly a heartfelt and genuine call to action.
Bell stood up in front praying for guidance, for leadership and most of all faith.
It was all part of the "Day of Remembrance" in honor of the victims of violence both in and around Birmingham, as well as last week's victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.
Bell says the only way to rid the city and the world, for that matter, of violence is to touch people in their hearts and their souls, in order to show them the way of God.
"We got to show a consolidated effort to say that we're going to instill in our children and our young adults and in our old senior citizens that God can help us if we only ask Him to guide our actions," Bell said.
Another moving speaker was Bethel Baptist Church Pastor, T. L. Lewis, who urged the congregation, which consisted of more than two dozen local preachers, to hold hands and pray with one another.
