ST. LOUIS -- Rev. Al Sharpton spoke Sunday afternoon at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis, the same church where Michael Brown's funeral was held.
Rev. Sharpton told the audience that, in death, Michael Brown, 18, may help change police behavior. The National Action Network President said he will also continue to push for a Federal Grand Jury to review Brown's case. "You won the first round Mr. Prosecutor, but don't cut your gloves off, cause the fight's not over," Rev. Sharpton said.
He also called on churches nationwide to pause for a "moment of justice" for Michael Brown.
Meanwhile, Rev. Sharpton announced plans to help rebuild the church Michael Brown Sr. attends, which was torched by arsonists after the grand jury's decision not to indict former police officer Darren Wilson.
Monday, while unrest created a fiery scene in Ferguson, Brown Sr.'s church was intentionally set on fire. Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm investigators report an arsonist or arsonists broke into the building and started the blaze. The fire began in the "foyer" area of the cinder block church, John Ham, spokesperson for the ATF told reporter Hilary Golston.
Rev. Sharpton reported he will contribute $1,000 to rebuilding the burned out structure. He also said his "National Action Network" organization will work to contribute what they can to the cause, financially. The congregation held service despite the lack of four walls and roof. "I think it shows that there are people that are determined to take a bad situation and make it positive," Rev. Sharpton told Golston. "There's no bitterness here. There's no talk of anything, but we're gonna keep moving."
In the crowd were Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was shot and killed by former police officer, Darren Wilson, August 9th. Neither McSpadden nor Brown had comments.
After leaving Friendly Temple, Rev. Sharpton joined Brown's father, Michael Brown Sr., and pastor of The Flood Church, Rev. Carlton Lee, in a parking lot service. The church building is not structurally sound enough to hold church service inside, so Rev. Lee moved the service outside.
Under the tent, Rev. Lee spoke about triumph over the loss of a sanctuary and plans to rebuild. However, there are some things lost that cannot be recovered. A bible Rev. Lee lost in the fire had special significance. "That's my bile that my aunt gave me… and so she wrote me a note. I read that note every single time I open up that bible," Rev. Lee told Golston. "I will never have that memory anymore. That's something I can never get back… never get back."
Rev. Lee said he received death threats and thinks the same people making the threats might have been behind the incident. "I'm going off of the death threats that I have… that's all I can go off of. Off of the death threats," Rev. Lee said. "They fulfilled what they said they was gonna do… minus one thing and that was throwing me in the fire."
Rev. Lee is also planning to have a 10,000 person march in Clayton to continue to push for Darren Wilson's arrest. However, the date and time have not been set.
The mood of the church community was a positive one. "God is still good," Deaconess Teia Finley said. "We still believe that everything will work out for our good."
A GoFundMe account was set up to raise money to rebuild The Flood Christian Church. Sunday night more than $52,000 had been raised. The fund's organizers planned to raise $500,000.
You can donate here: http://www.gofundme.com/huw1h0
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