2 diverse churches issue call for peace

''People should wise up," McPherson, 17, a senior at Hyde Park High School, said. ''Stop killing, and start working towards a better future."

Several ''amens" rose from the pews.

Stopping gun violence is not a message typically preached from pulpits in this predominantly white and wealthy town of million-dollar homes adorned with sport utility vehicles and white picket fences 18 miles west of Boston.

But yesterday, calls to end bloodshed in Boston came to this suburban church, straight from people whose lives are more regularly rocked by gunfire -- the parishioners of the Charles Street AME Church in Roxbury, who joined them for a Sunday service inspired by the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Black and white parishioners held hands, swayed to Gospel music, stomped their feet to the rhythm, clapped, bowed heads in prayer, and then retired to the church basement for cake and coffee.

Mostly, people here said, they were inspired to look beyond geographical and racial boundaries and work toward a safer, calmer Boston.

''It was in some ways a challenge, a mandate that gave us all something to think about, about working together on a problem that isn't just a Boston problem," Joan Donahue, 55, a Wellesley financial adviser, said after the service. ''If you really take the strength of these congregations, and the youth understanding each other and working together, it makes things more solvable."

The sweet strains of ''Open The Eyes to My Heart, Lord," welcomed parishioners into the soaring sanctuary, as Wellesley residents arrived by car, and many from Boston came by chartered bus. Before long, the pews filled, and members of both churches sang a rendition of ''One Love," by reggae superstar Bob Marley.

''This is a beautiful church," Wellesley's pastor, the Rev. Martin B. Copenhaver, said as he surveyed his unusually diverse congregation. ''But it's never looked more beautiful than on this Sunday."

The two churches have prayed together for seven years, but never under such a haze of violence. Last year was Boston's bloodiest in a decade, as the city recorded 75 homicides, most within a few square miles in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury.

That menace, familiar to one church, foreign to the other, motivated the sermon by Charles Street's pastor, the Rev. Dr. Gregory G. Groover Sr.

''It's time for us to ask: How strong is our partnership?" Groover said. ''How far will it go? What becomes of our partnership in times of crises?"

Neither community has all the answers, he said.

But he and others asked people from both churches to serve as mentors in Boston and donate money to charities that work with troubled youth.

As residents of Greater Boston and people of a common faith, ''We are interdependent," Groover told parishioners, to a round of nods and ''amen."

''The truth is this violence knows no vicinity," he said. ''It is a violence that that deeply affects us all, from Roxbury to Wellesley and beyond."

After McPherson spoke, he handed the microphone to teenagers from Wellesley and Boston, each of whom was asked to complete the sentence, ''In light of the violence in my city, my dream is . . ." Standing on stage, Alison Griswold, 15, a freshman at Wellesley High School, responded in a clear, soft voice.

''My dream," she said, ''is that these problems can be acknowledged by people who are not affected by it."

Mayor Thomas M. Menino was given the church's annual ''dream sharer" award for his work to stop violence in Boston. Groover called him a ''great man," and presented him with a copy of ''At Canaan's Edge," a history of King by Taylor Branch, and eight compact discs of King's speeches read by the actor LeVar Burton. Menino flashed the A-OK sign as he thanked Groover.

''People of different backgrounds, different colors of their skin, and we all work together in the spirit of Martin Luther King," Menino told the congregation. ''You might be in Wellesley, I might be in Boston, but there are no boundaries."

Minor moments of unity punctuated the service.

Accustomed to playing Bach and traditional hymns in Wellesley, resident Ken Accardi, 42, played trumpet to gospel songs yesterday, while his daughter, Casey, 13, sang with children from Boston.

''Music is one way we're able to come together very easily," Accardi said afterward. ''We don't need a lot of work, and everybody can kind of feel like one through music."

Willie Patterson, 60, a retired Gillette worker from Brockton who attends the Charles Street church, and Jim Mangiardo, 60, a biotech executive from Natick who worships in Wellesley, served as ushers, seamlessly distributing collection plates, as they have in past years. Afterward, they chatted together in the church basement.

''Every year we look forward to this," Patterson said. ''It's a great fellowship."

The churches plan to meet again next year, but many parishioners pledged to stay more involved this year, as violence continues to shake Boston.

Among them was Wellesley resident Richard Morse, 56, a fund-raiser for Tufts University School of Medicine, who said he was inspired by the service and disquieted by the bloodshed he heard described from the pulpit.

''What I'm led to feel after this service, is how can I get more active in the community on a day-to-bay basis," Morse said. ''I worry that will reduce with time but we need to be reminded that this not a weekend event, it's a year-round event."