Service at Peoples Church in Fresno started with a prayer and words of hope. Some people walked in searching for comfort, affected by the tragedy in Connecticut, even though it happened thousands of miles away.
Dene Vincent attended the service, "I came in with a heavy heart and I've had a heavy heart ever since this happened."
Vincent doesn't have family in Connecticut and she didn't know any of the victims. But her thoughts have been on them all weekend.
"It touches your life because it's children involved and I have children myself," Vincent added, "when it's children it hits really close to home no matter how far away they are."
Inside the church, pastor Dale Oquist talked about the shooting, the children who were killed and the sadness that has followed.
Pastor Oquist said, "the tragedy is, we see this because it is so dramatic...in a situation like Newtown but it brings it all to our attention, the darkness of our hearts."
Bethany von Steinbergs is also a pastor at the church. She led the opening prayer. People in the crowd bowed their heads and emotions were visible. "I think hearts are somber but they are also leaning into a god of hope and justice and really wanting to trust him," she said.
Many went to church looking for hope. It happened to be the pastor's message and sometimes hope is all we need.
TXT 24
Twitter
Facebook