St. Stephen UMC holding candlelight vigil for Nex Benedict
St. Stephen United Methodist Church, 2520 Oates Drive in Mesquite, will hold a community candlelight prayer vigil, Sunday, Feb.
25, at 6:30 p.m., honoring the life of Nex Benedict, the Owasso, Okla., student who died Feb. 8 after having been beaten by other students in a bathroom at Owasso High School.
Nex’s mother has said Nex had been subjected to bullying at school for some time. This Dallas-area prayer vigil is being held as an act of solidarity with Nex’s family and home community, which will be holding a prayer vigil at the same time. “Our non-binary and transgender children face increasing danger because of invasive actions by people they were taught to trust to promote community welfare and protect the most vulnerable,” said the Rev.
Geoffrey C. Moore, Ph.D., St. Stephen’s lead pastor. “Instead, elected officials have put them at grave risk for bullying, persecution and, as we’ve now seen, violence. “We stand in solidarity with Nex’s family, the community of Owasso and non-binary and transgender Oklahomans everywhere, as well as with non-binary and transgender children in our own communities.
