Markeshia Ricks Photo
Vox Church Elder Bob Bergers, organizer of the prayer on the Green.
Church members praying in small groups …
Vox Church New Haven members concluded that city officials are trying everything they can to prevent future mass overdoses on the Green. So they decided to ask for more help from a higher power.
About 40 of the church’s members gathered at the center of the lower Green on a balmy Tuesday evening pray on three things: the addicted, city officials and organizations, and the gospel transformation of the city.
Bob Bergers, who serves as an elder for the New Haven campus of Vox Church, said in light of the recent mass overdose last Wednesday he helped organize a prayer vigil.
Vox is a multi-site church that holds its New Haven services at College Street Music Hall on Sundays, where upwards of 900 people gather to worship. The church also has campuses in North Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford and Middletown.
“We’re Christians and we believe in a God who can heal,” Berger said simply of what the members hope their prayers will do among the many things already being done to prevent future overdoses.
Gathered in circles of about five or more the members offered prayers from a set of points provided by Bergers.
… for the addicted …
For those battling addiction, they prayed for salvation, healing and open doors for treatment. They also prayed for the families of the addicted and for a break from the generational impact of drug addiction.
… for city officials and social service organizations …
They prayed for Mayor Toni Harp and other officials looking for solutions to combat drug problems in the city. They also prayed for finances and other resources to help fund those solutions. They offered prayers specifically for organizations like Liberty Community Services, Columbus House, the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, and Loves and Fishes.
… and for city churches and transformation.
Lastly, they prayed for city churches to continue to have compassion for the lost and to help meet their needs.
They prayed over a virtually empty Green. And there was not a siren within earshot.
Amen.
Read coverage of last week’s drug poisonings on the Green:
• What Really Happened On The Green
• OD Toll Hits 77; Cops Arrest Suspect
• Overdoses Put 911, Engine 4 To The Test
• Recovery Coaches. More Cops. Moved Bus Stops?
• Synthetic Cannabinoid Key Ingredient In Bad K2 Batch
• Fair Haven Doctors See Lesson In K2 Poisonings
• Stopping Suicide, Jesus Redeems Himself
• Dozens More Overdose; What’s In That K2?
• Bad K2 Went For Free
• Green Proprietors On Overdoses, Drug Scene: “We Cannot Wait”
• NORML: Legalization Would Have Prevented Overdoses
• “Place Of Despair”?
• Angel, Royce Find Refuge From Green ODs
• Trump’s Drug Czar: Solutions Begin At Home
Vox used to be City Church? The one with such an emphasis on creating a "brand"?
In any case the drug dealing, drug use and overdoses aren't over, as ambulance and fire truck were at Center Church yesterday at 5pm, (the K2 section of the Green), — taking another drug user to the hospital.