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Lee Johnson began his short speech at the tiny black Salt Lake City congregation Sunday with a drumbeat of onerous statistics — the numbers of Americans killed by police — noting how they have escalated dramatically each year since 2013.
The problem, Johnson boldly told dozens gathered in the historic sanctuary of the Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church for the congregation's 128th anniversary, "is bad male behavior — men killing men."
The energetic speaker described the recent death of Philando Castile, a black man in Minnesota who was shot by a policeman while allegedly reaching for his wallet.
Johnson, who didn't blame Castile, urged the men of the church to "stay away from police" and "keep your nose clean."
If stopped, they should be polite and even talkative, he said. Mention how they oppose domestic violence. How they are responsible citizens and family men.
As a church, Trinity AME would like to partner with Salt Lake City government and the police force, he said. Can they find responses to threats other than "deadly force?" he wondered, like shooting suspects in the leg or groin rather than the head or heart.
"We've got big ideas," Johnson said. "We need to be more proactive."
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski did not hear Johnson's remarks. She was on hand for the church's celebration, but had to leave shortly after she spoke.
Biskupski, the city's 35th mayor and second woman in the position, praised the congregation's history as "the oldest ethnic minority church" in the Beehive State.
"Like early Mormons," she said in an address to about 50 attendees, including a dozen white members of the Hilltop United Methodist Church Choir, "your ancestors were pioneers."
Biskupski then read a proclamation that recognized the Trinity AME's efforts to build "a safe place" free from "racial oppression," to welcome everyone, and to provide "an inspirational anchor."
At the end of her address, the mayor pledged her support and that of her staff and the city's police to "create a community" where everyone feels safe.
"We are," she said, "in this together."
The celebration comes, the church's pastor, the Rev. Nurjhan Govan, wrote in her published greeting, "153 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation … [while] a black man and his first lady reside at the White House."
But it is also "some of the worst of times," she wrote. "Never before … have so many ethnic minorities fallen victim to law enforcement under suspicious circumstances. … Angry people are starting to retaliate with vigilante tactics."
Sunday's gathering happened just hours after six police officers were shot — three fatally — in Baton Rouge, La., where a black man recently was gunned down by law enforcement.
Religious and political leaders, Govan said, must "stand tall," calling for a "truce, a national moratorium on shooting deaths of unarmed ethnic minority persons by law enforcement."
The two-hour service included gospel music, accompanied by drums, guitars and electronic keyboard, as well as swaying, clapping and praying.
"Everything is in your hands, Father God," Billy Norris intoned in his prayer. "We need you now more than ever."
Twitter: @religiongal