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LOCAL
The Champion, Thursday, October 22 - 28,2015
Apostle Collette Gunby and other religious leaders want to decrease
crime in south DeKalb.
Pastor Steven Dial said local pastors and community leaders have
joined forces to strike back at crime.
Pastor Marlin Harris described the impact of crime on life in south
DeKalb. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
Religious leaders
vow to fight crime
by Andrew Cauthen
Andrew@dekalbchamp.com
On the heels of two shootings in south
DeKalb County, a group of pastors and com
munity leaders have banned together to ad
dress crime in their communities.
“Were going to partner with law enforce
ment, with the communities to take back
our communities,” said Pastor Steven Dial
of Rainbow Park Missionary Baptist Church
during a news conference announcing an
“initiative to join with the law enforcement
of DeKalb County to fight against the crime
that’s going on in DeKalb County.”
During the news conference, Dial quoted
statistics for the south DeKalb community
he said he received from the county police
department. He said aggravated assaults and
business robberies are up 44 percent while
rapes have increased 33 percent.
“With all of the senseless crime that’s go
ing on in our communities.. .we really have a
crime problem,” Dial said. “What we’re going
to do is address it from a spiritual perspec
tive.
“We have some practical applications that
we’re going to put into place that will help us
fight back crime,.. .take back the city, take
back the streets and make our county a safe
place in which we can all live,” Dial said.
The impetus for the pastors’ mobilization
was the “senseless crime that took place on
Glenwood just a few days ago. The spike in
crime is up and up and up,” Dial said. “We
constantly have spoken about it and now
we’re going to do something about it.”
Dial said his church has experienced the
affects of crime.
“We’ve had our buses stolen. We’ve had
our van stolen. We’ve had bricks thrown
through our church window on two occa
sions,” Dial said. “We have had [vandalism]
to our property several times.
“On Good Friday, two of our members
went home and their home [had been] van
dalized and their TVs, computers and lap
tops were all stolen,” he said.
Pastor Marlin Harris of New Life Church
in Decatur said many churches have been
impacted by crime.
“That is a common thing that happens in
many of our churches, especially those that
are right around in the area,” Harris said.
“We all have a stake in the community...
because we pastor here, we minister here,”
Harris said. “Every Sunday folks from this
environment come to our churches and
they’re not just looking for spiritual uplift
and spiritual aid, but they are also looking for
help. They’re looking for practical assistance.
They’re looking for life assistance beyond
Sunday morning.
“We’re in the street and we need to be in
the street more often, because the more we’re
in the street and the more our members are
in street, the less the gang lords and the less
those who commit violent crimes are in the
streets,” Harris said. “Our presence needs to
be felt and seen and that’s what we’re doing
here today.”
Apostle Collette Gunby, senior pastor of
Green Pastures Christian Ministries Inc., said
she is “very concerned.”
“I moved out here as a young bride and
I’ve seen all of the changes,” Gunby said. “I
saw [the community] when it was magnifi
cent. And now I see it in this condition.”
Gunby said the coalition of approximate
ly 100 pastors and community leaders will be
“working toward making it better.”
“We want to motivate the community to
come out and be what we need to be in our
community and bring the change that will
make our community safe and viable as it
was in previous times,” Gunby said.
The pastors will host a community event
Dec. 5 at New Birth Missionary Baptist
Church during which Cedric Alexander,
DeKalb County’s deputy chief operating of
ficer for public safety, will speak.
Additionally, “we’re going to unveil a
plethora of things that we’re going to do to
address various issues in our community,”
Dial said.
In the meantime, “all of these prophets
and spiritual leaders ... [are] going to be
praying,” Dial said. “We’re going to be inter
ceding. We’re going to be doing various...
activities at our churches to help our young
people stay off the streets and get an educa
tion so we can reduce crime in our commu
nities.
“We’re really going to take back our com
munity,” he said.
Gerard Reynolds, owner of Reynolds
Printing, said, “My concern is the despair of
the people in the neighborhood.”
The plans of the “spiritual advisors [are]
a step in the right direction,” Reynolds said.
CITY OF BROOKHAVEN FY 2016 PROPOSED BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING
The City of Brookhaven will hold a public hearing on the proposed FY2016 Budget following
the City Council Work Session at 6:15 p.m. on November 10, 2015. Another public hearing will
be held during the regular scheduled City Council meeting on November 17, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Following the public hearing on November 17, 2015, the City Council will vote to adopt the
FY2016 Budget. The FY 2016 Budget will be available for public inspection at City Hall, 4362
Peachtree Road, and on the website www.brookhavenga.gov November 6, 2015.