Gov. Andy Beshear delivered a speech against political violence and for uniting together against hate at an interfaith church event.

Beshear spoke at the Historic Saint Paul Church’s “United in Hope: Denouncing Political Violence” event in Lexington on Thursday, March 5. Mayor Linda Gorton could not attend the event but sent a prayer to be read during the event.

“I am proud to be here today among faith leaders, public servants and community leaders as Kentucky and Lexington take a stand against political violence,” Beshear said. “Across our country, we’ve seen an increase in deadly acts, senseless violence.”

In his speech, Beshear said he knows what it is like to lose close friends to violence and said it should not happen to anyone in the country and in the world.

Beshear said political violence in particular “tears at the fabric” of the country.

“In many ways, our country was built on disagreement,” Beshear said. “We are at least supposed to have three separate branches of government, we are supposed to have a certain level of conflict … but that conflict is never supposed to cross to the level of violence.”

Beshear said the attack on former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s husband and the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk are recent examples of political violence across the country.

Among recent examples of violence motivated by politics, Beshear said faith is a uniting force that can bring people together despite their differences. He talked about the virtue of helping others.

“How we conduct our business today will determine how our future Kentuckians, future Americans think of us,” Beshear said. “This is a moment we have been trusted to navigate … I believe Kentucky can be at least one light that leads us out of this darkness.”

Throughout the event, several speakers from other churches led the audience in song and prayer, including a reading of the poem “O Captain, My Captain,” an ode to Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated after the Civil War.

Lisa and Meagan Vickers, who are mother and daughter, came to the event after learning about it the night before from the church they regularly attend, Lafayette Christian Church.

Meagan Vickers said Beshear’s speech gave her hope during a time when she felt scared of the political situation and violence throughout the country.

“I’ve had to say goodbye to some friends,” Meagan said. “I don’t want to have those difficult conversations, and sometimes they need to be had, but at the same time, people on the other side of the aisle aren’t changing.”

Meagan said she came to the event to get more involved in the community and learn how to help other people.

Lisa said she was surprised by the number of people at the event sharing her belief that something must be done about political violence.

The event was organized by Stan JR Zerkowski, pastoral associate at the Historic Saint Paul Church and founder of the Lexington UNITED Interfaith Encounters & Dialogues, a group founded in response to the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.

Zerkowski said this event is the first event held by UNITED since the COVID pandemic. He said the goal of the event was to bring people across the state together to commit themselves to the common good.

“We can live the dream of bringing a very diverse community of the unexpected together,” Zerkowski said. “They can pray together even in different ways, we can stand together, we can sing together … and we can find hope and go out and change the world.”

Zerkowski said he estimated about a thousand people in attendance. He said the church holds 800 and he saw more people standing and sitting throughout the building.

The audience, Zerkowski said, was made up of a wide variety of different racial, religious and political groups. He said the sight gave him hope that even during times of increased partisanship, people can still come together.

“It’s a lot of people that believe there’s another way outside of rhetorical violence and physical violence,” Zerkowski said. “We can still walk together, we can join together and create a world where we don’t kill anyone and we don’t dehumanize anyone.”

The current political landscape can lead people to feel hopeless, Zerkowski said, but at events where many people join together, hope can be found in their diversity; that, despite differences, people still from all over the state believe in finding a way to end political violence and all violence in general.

Zerkowski said he was told the church sounded “thunderous” with every attendee praying and singing.

“I’m hoping (attendees) leave with the thought that that mighty roar that they heard in here said ‘let’s rumble,’ and let’s go out into the world and make it better than we’re experiencing today,” Zerkowski said.