United Methodist News Service/Mike DuBose

Religious leaders around the country renewed calls for more dialogue about race issues after several high-profile incidents this week. Tensions ratcheted up again in Ferguson, Missouri after two police officers were shot as demonstrators gathered in front of the police department. Local clergy appealed for calm. People of faith were part of vigils and rallies in Oklahoma over a fraternity video with racist chants, and also in Madison, Wisconsin, where an unarmed black teen was shot by a white policeman. All of this took place as the nation marked the fiftieth anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama, when state troopers attacked civil rights marchers. Many religious leaders took part in a series of events to commemorate that and subsequent marches, which led to passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.