{"id":155821,"date":"2025-08-18T13:32:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/155821\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T13:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:32:19","slug":"how-south-dallas-pastors-are-walking-by-faith-to-prevent-youth-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/155821\/","title":{"rendered":"How South Dallas pastors are walking by faith to prevent youth violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a recent Sunday morning service at Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Dallas<\/a>, kids in the congregation, from 8 to 15 years old, stepped forward as leaders. <\/p>\n

Before congregants arrived, they rehearsed hymns, harmonizing with each other and the church\u2019s pianist and drummer. Dressed in white robes, the kids lit candles to begin service, read the call to worship and invocation, read scripture and welcomed newcomers to the church. <\/p>\n

Teen violence can be difficult to address. Grassroots nonprofits are at the heart of the work to curb violent crime among children and teens and sustain the progress year-over-year.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal Church youth choir performs during a youth-led service, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Empowering kids to take greater roles in the church is one way local faith leaders are trying to chip away at youth violence in Dallas. Of the homicides recorded in Dallas last year<\/a>, 48% involved a victim younger than 30. The age range of 18 to 29 represented 38.4% of all of Dallas\u2019 homicides \u2014 the most of any age group. <\/p>\n

Breaking News<\/p>\n

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.<\/p>\n

Many of these homicides, including 40% of the homicides involving kids between the ages of 10 to 17, were concentrated in South Dallas, where churches Abundant Life<\/a> and True Lee Missionary Baptist<\/a> are located.<\/p>\n

True Lee\u2019s pastor, Donald Parish, said when a teen is killed, he tries to come alongside grieving families by offering food and prayer. While this helps comfort the family during a traumatic time, he said he is more focused on proactive measures to the problem of teen violence. He said he accomplishes this through building relationships in the community and making sure people know his church is always open, just as it has been for almost 90 years.<\/p>\n

Related:After two fatal shootings involving teens, Mesquite community leaders call for change<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I try to do specifically is I try to make sure that all of my local schools that are closely affiliated to my church know me,\u201d Parish said. \u201cThey know me as a partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing the issue<\/p>\n

Parish helped bring 600 men to a \u201cBreakfast for Dads\u201d<\/a> event at Dade Middle School in 2017 after putting out a message on Facebook seeking volunteers to come for the kids who may not have had fathers present in their lives. That evolved into his mentorship organization, A Steady Hand<\/a>, which pairs kids with mentors<\/a> to help them with resume writing, college applications, summer jobs and more. <\/p>\n

\"Pastor<\/p>\n

Pastor Don Parish poses for a photograph at True Lee Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, on May 22, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Related:\u2018Killing to be seen\u2019: Dallas nonprofit uses faith, love, connection to cut teen violence<\/a><\/p>\n

The goal is to connect young men with positive male role models<\/a>. He said that is especially important in areas like South Dallas that often get negative news coverage due to the instances of violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s why we\u2019re active and involved in schools, trying to change that narrative, give them a different picture of what success looks like,\u201d Parish said.<\/p>\n

While pastors are trying to find ways to address this problem in their communities, systemic issues around racism and poverty can make the problem ever-present.<\/p>\n

For Michael Waters, pastor of Abundant Life, he sees youth violence as a result of systemic problems. Waters pointed out the connection between poverty and crime<\/a>, as he said poverty limits opportunities and creates food insecurity and environmental concerns like pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you begin to pull back the layers, you recognize that it\u2019s not so much communities of violence, but communities who have had violence done to them,\u201d Waters said. \u201cThat violence has been historical and continuous in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rev.<\/p>\n

Rev. Michael Waters gives his sermon during a youth-led service at Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Related:South Oak Cliff\u2019s principal talks solutions for rising teen violence in Dallas<\/a><\/p>\n

Waters said poverty is \u201cracialized,\u201d as higher percentages of people of color live below the poverty line compared with the white population. According to the Center for Economic Policy Research<\/a>, historical inequities such as Jim Crow have resulted in continued impact on Black Americans, as discrimination created disparities in education and income, which continued over generations.<\/p>\n

According to data from the city of Dallas<\/a>, 21% of Dallas\u2019 Black and Hispanic residents live below the poverty line, with nearly 40% of Black children living in poverty.<\/p>\n

Dallas Youth Safety Collaborative<\/p>\n

Waters and his wife, Yulise, were consultants for the Dallas Youth Safety Collaborative\u2019s strategic plan<\/a> last year, which included several members of their church as authors, including their children Jeremiah, 18, and Hope, 15. The collaborative, born from a grant given to the city of Dallas from the National League of Cities, looked for solutions to youth violence in Dallas and reassessed how to keep kids safe. <\/p>\n

The plan outlined key areas needed to improve teen safety in Dallas. Mentorship programs, improvements in school discipline and mental health resources for teens were identified as ways to get teens on track to become leaders later in life.<\/p>\n

Related:For domestic violence survivors, Genesis shelters provide safety in North Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

The key finding of the collaborative\u2019s report was the need for youth to be involved in their community. Waters\u2019 church has a youth group that meets twice a month after Sunday church services, and once a month, leads worship services for the congregation. Jeremiah Waters said youth involvement is a core value at Abundant Life, as it helps their growth both spiritually and leadership-wise.<\/p>\n

Camilia \u201cMimi\u201d Williams, a youth pastor at Abundant Life and one of many authors of the collaborative\u2019s report, said churches have lost ground with young people in recent years. One way for churches to combat that, she said, is to have young congregants help lead services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we don\u2019t keep our kids engaged, they find other ways to be engaged,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAnd sometimes, it\u2019s not always positive things to be engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsey Bouie, 13, said she has been involved in Abundant Life since she \u201cwas in diapers\u201d and said leading worship has allowed her to see behind the scenes of her church and feel more connected with the community. She also said it has allowed her to get closer with her pastor and learn more about how the church operates.<\/p>\n

\"Rev.<\/p>\n

Rev. Michael Waters prays with youth ahead of the start of the school year during a youth-led service at Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Similar to Parish, Waters said he tries to be involved in the community so that his church can become a place for people to come in the wake of tragedy. He said he has prayed with families, spoken at vigils and led marches following instances of youth violence.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, he said the church should work as a pillar of its community, a place for safety, education, recreation and gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t solve everything,\u201d Waters said, \u201cBut we can provide a witness to and support to and certainly be an advocate for change.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a recent Sunday morning service at Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Dallas, kids in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":155822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,4219,1596,7290,11412,14053,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-155821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-county","12":"tag-faith","13":"tag-south-dallas","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115050024777725006","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}