Pastor Jamal Bryant, bottom center, leads a group prayer for to nearly 750 pastors, supporters and family of Ahmaud Arbery gathered outside the Glynn County Courthouse during a Wall of Prayer event, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Brunswick, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

By Quine Cousins

ore than 300+ black pastors from Georgia, and across the country, answered the call to come to Brunswick, Georgia and the Glynn County Courthouse. Our mission to stand in support of and to pray for the family of Ahmuad Arbery put the power of the black church, and the conflict against injustice, on full display in the national press.

Arbery was gunned down by three white men in Brunswick while jogging in their neighborhood. He was unarmed and minding his business. This sounds familiar: unarmed, yet suffering death while performing everyday tasks while black. Also familiar were details of the case that seemed to forecast further inequities in the process and the outcome. For example, though Arbery was killed in February 2020, the video of his murder did not surface until May of that year. Also, though not uncommon, the jury was mostly white, with one African American.

In times of injustice, we need people to stand on the wall until “justice rolls down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” We were only too honored to take on that mantle when, after November 12, 2021, defense attorney Kevin Gough made a motion to try to keep black pastors from sitting in the courtroom gallery. He said he thought that their presence would intimidate the jury.

As we observed both the horrific video revelations of Arbury’s last moments, as well as the courtroom motions and proceedings, we wanted a visible reminder that we as a nation sought justice for his murder.

Reverend Al Sharpton of National Action Network, along with Dr. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, made a clarion call to all black pastors in the State of Georgia—and all over the country. We were to show up in Brunswick on November 18 for a prayer rally and to stand with the Arbery family.

We were invited and so we came. It was a scene—and a sea of black faces—to behold. Black men and women from all denominations and all walks of life came for one purpose. Together we called on the God of justice so that justice could be served. We sang together, cried together, stood together, and prayed together. Here are a few things that stood out to me:

1. There Was Unity: We were all unified. No denomination tried to outshine the other. We left our egos at home because this was not about us.
2. Love Was On Display: Dr. King said that hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. In the midst of the racial undertones of this trial, we showed that love would win.
3. God Was With Us: We had no doubt that God was with us. As we were on the courthouse grounds, we felt His presence and experienced His glory. We knew that if God was with Dr. King, Fredrick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and the rest of our forefathers and ancestors, He was with the black pastors who answered the call to come to Brunswick, Georgia.

Pastor Quine Cousins is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Oakwood University and is the associate pastor of Mountainside SDA Church in Decatur, Georgia and the lead pastor of Lighthouse SDA Company in Ellenwood, Georgia.