Rev. James Forbes Jr. brought a message of hope and healing to those gathered for a prayer service in the Newtown Congregational Church Sunday night.

Just weeks after a gunman shot and killed 20 first-graders and six educators inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, Forbes spoke of the non-violence legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Forbes, the first black minister of New York's historic Riverside Church, told those who gathered that by the grace of God Newtown can transform from the place "where the most awful thing happened" to a place of where things began to be dealt with."

He said the  tragedy at Newtown can lead to a "new America."