Laura Damon|Newport Daily News

NEWPORT The lead pastor of Evangelical Friends Church of Newport in Middletown wept silently in his office when he saw the images of the chaos that erupted in Washington on Wednesday, when a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol building.

I was devastated, Rev. Paul Hoffman said in a virtual prayer rally Thursday afternoon, live-streamed on Facebook from the Community Baptist Church in Newport. He was among other local clergy members who spoke at the event, to offer words of comfort and prayers.

We want to process our grief, Hoffman said, while explaining the purpose of Thursday's prayer rally. Not in destructive ways, but in constructive ways. Healthy ways.

Images of our Congress-people and their staff huddled in the chamber, this should never happen. And we pray that it never happens again, Hoffman said.

We want to show you a positive, faith-filled, Christ-centered example of what it looks like when things are broken, Hoffman continued. Unity is not uniformity.

Rev. Lauri Smalls, the transitional pastor of Community Baptist Church, sang God Bless America before she spoke.

To God, she said: Youve given us this wonderful gift of being American, a group of people made up of different ethnicities and opinions. God, you have woven us into a wonderful fabric, but we have forgotten that…We have forgotten that our neighbor is our friend.

Other clergy members spoke of the nuances of human behavior, the frustrations of some groups of people, and their own conflicting feelings. Love for their country juxtaposed with a frustration and anger towards it.

Hoffman, in a prayer, said: We have been politically polarized…we have been divided. And despite different tribes and tongues…different educational backgrounds…our desires and our hearts are the same.

Father, Hoffman continued. We recognize our culture cannot change until we change.

See the original post:
Clergy gather in Newport to process grief from Capitol attack - newportri.com