O.C. Black Leaders Laud King Outcome : Churches: Parishioners urged to keep working for peace. Relief is expressed.

Expressing collective joy and relief at the outcome of the Rodney G. King civil rights trial, parishioners at Orange County’s black churches Sunday heard their ministers urge them to continue working for peace.

“My heart is overwhelmed that some justice has been done. I’m glad that God has given us some peace,” said Elder Isaac Patrick, pastor of the Gospel Light Church of God in Christ in Santa Ana.

“Yesterday in Los Angeles, California,” Patrick said, “justice was served.”

Those sentiments reverberated through some of the county’s other black churches, where ministers and their parishioners expressed relief at the guilty verdicts for two of the four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused of violating King’s civil rights.

Evangeline McReynolds, wife of the Rev. John McReynolds of the Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana, said her congregation appeared to believe that justice had prevailed despite the acquittals of Officers Theodore J. Briseno and Timothy E. Wind.

“It was like a big sigh, like, ‘Wow, they did it,’ ” she said. “I think that in general we were on pins and needles. We were up . . . when they said two guilty, and I cried. I cried because they did it, they did it.”

Patrick said the outcome of the trial can help people and churches build connections that may bring communities closer together.

“We don’t talk to each other,” he told his congregation. “Once we learn that God made all of us, we’ll be in better shape.”

In Fullerton, the Rev. James Harper urged his congregation at the Community Cathedral Baptist Church to pray for a strict sentence for Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and Officer Laurence M. Powell, who were convicted of violating King’s civil rights.

“At the sentencing, let’s hope the judge will be fair and give them what they deserve, then we can start shouting,” Harper said. “We aren’t at the end of the road, we’re in the middle of it. We don’t want to start rejoicing now, because we could be crying later.”

With an eye toward rectifying what they see as ongoing injustices against blacks, some churches are arranging sessions to discuss reactions to the verdict.

Leaders said that the problems faced by King are everywhere, and people must continually work to improve the situation for minorities.

“You don’t change things by sitting down watching John Wayne on TV,” Patrick said. “You make change by becoming part of the system.”

Patrick said that, while he didn’t like using the pulpit for political purposes, the lessons learned from the King beating and the trials of the four police officers were relevant to the teachings of the church.

“It’s a lot to do with Sunday morning,” he said. “Yes, there are some criminals out there, but not everyone is a criminal.”

Patrick said it was unfair for police to stop young black boys without reason and tell them to “spread-eagle on the ground.”

“Those kinds of problems are absolutely wrong. It’s unfair and we need to stop it,” he said.

At the Second Baptist Church, McReynolds advised his congregation not to become divided because two of the officers were acquitted.

He also said it is time for people to get on with their lives now that the trial is over.

Harper’s church will hold a “semi-victory celebration” at which people can pray that “God will deal with the judge’s heart and make the right decision.”

Patrick’s church, in collaboration with ministers from other churches, will play host to “The Verdict vs. the Vision,” an open discussion for the community, at noon Saturday.

“Without a vision, people perish,” he said, adding that it is “important we vocalize things that are bothering us.”

During the service, church members repeatedly reaffirmed his words with declarations of “amen” and “that’s right,” and nodded knowingly whenever he spoke of injustices to African-Americans.

The county’s Human Relations Commission has scheduled a similar public forum for tonight.