Love Over Fear: Mason City gathering celebrates diversity, inclusion

A Mason City church focused on the importance of love and compassion last week as a way to combat a recent wave of political tensions.

Following the violent events of August 11 and 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia — where a rally of white supremacists, which included neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and white nationalists, resulted in multiple injuries and the death of Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer, 32 — and the fallout from a lack of public consensus about violence and free speech, many across the country have been left feeling lost or uncertain.

On August 24, First Congregational United Church of Christ extended an invitation of unity to people of all ages, belief systems, nationalities, religions and skin colors, culminating in a walk around Mason City and a ceremony of free expression given by leaders of all faiths.

The event, titled Love Over Fear – A Response To Hate, began on church grounds at 6 p.m., where multiple local faith leaders and concerned community members collected.

Read the full article in the August 31 edition of the papers.