August 1 beginning at 6 p.m. local faith leaders and members of the Murray community will participate in a prayer walk. The event is called Unity and Love Prayer Walk and has been organized by local Benson Jones.
“I've organized a prayer walk, just framing it as a unity and love prayer walk for Murray. It’s just kind of geared towards the race relations and what's been going on in our community as of late and in our country as a whole,” Jones said. “It is a Christian issue and a church issue. I figure showing unity as the body of Christ would be the best way of showing support.”
Jones said he participated in a similar walk recently in Memphis and wanted to bring the same experience to his hometown.
He said the recent controversy in Murray over the statue of confederate leader Robert E. Lee and the state of division across the country as a whole inspired him to put the walk together.
“I have sisters living in Memphis, Tennessee, and we participated in a prayer walk there
that went to the National Civil Rights Museum, to the city hall there,” Jones said. “It was a really moving experience and with everything going on here especially with the statue situation and being a part of the protests and seeing all the anger and arguments, I figured that, you know, this would be a lot better approach.”
Jones said he feels bringing the Christians in the community together moving in one direction as a whole will have a big impact.
The walk will begin on the corner of LP Miller St. and Spruce St. The destination is Murray’s court square on the corner of 5th St. and Maple St. Jones asks all participants to wear a mask and practice social distancing. Murray’s police department has been coordinating with Jones to ensure safety at the event.
“Chief Lyles has been really supportive and safety is of utmost importance, especially with all the protests going on,” Jones said. “You know, definitely want it to be as peaceful and as safe as possible and everybody will be wearing masks.”
