CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) -- Some local church leaders have big ambitions for the future.
On Monday, they held their first meeting in Chesapeake to talk about the importance of prayer in schools.
Orlando Goodhope, a pastor at the Chesapeake Christian Center, shared his message following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
"Prayer is needed. It's absolutely needed," he said. "This will complete the discussion. We have to have the spiritual side that made America great."
Pastors from other churches joined his discussion at the Chesapeake Christian Center.
In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled "School-sponsored prayer in public schools is unconstitutional." The majority held that "school-sponsored prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment."
"We're asking other spiritual leaders to join us in our attempt to go forward and remove that law," said Goodhope.
"We believe that the solution, the answer is prayers in our schools," said Pastor Marvin Duke, also from the Chesapeake Christian Center.
Pastor Duke sat with Goodhope following the Florida tragedy, thinking of what they could do. Eventually, they landed on this community discussion.
"We believe that gun control and background checks are good but that doesn't address the root of the problem, which is spiritual," said Pastor Duke.
At the meeting, 13News Now asked if their efforts are meant for all religions, considering not every student at public schools is from Christian homes.
"Absolutely. The prayer protection is for everyone," said Goodhope, who sees this benefiting all religions.
These pastors hope to gather petitions and hopefully catch the attention of lawmakers.
They'll continue to have these meetings once a month at the Chesapeake Christian Center.