Prayer/Worship Resources
For Times of Gun Violence
Guns. A Failure of Leadership. A Spiritual Issue

Here is an interesting take on how to preach Sunday following the murders at Robb Elementary School and all the many school shootings that have passed from the news cycle and our memories. Blessings as you struggle with this difficult subject.

"This is a spiritual issue. When we act as though we love our guns, or our self-protection, more than our children, our very own babies, what does it mean to follow the way of Jesus? Where is the love of humanity showing up in God’s own people? Something is terribly wrong and there is no way we can keep ignoring this as though it is the last shooting. There will be more. It might be my family in pain next time. Or yours.

"Every prayer is a call to action, and this particular action is ours to take. We are people who cannot ignore that right now. In Uvalde, Texas, instead of waking up to a summer of childhood joy, people are waking up without their children. Our faith calls us to love, protect, and learn from our children."


Some other resources that may help this week:

ELCA Response to the Uvalde shootings: https://elca.org/News-and-Events/8146
ELCA Social Message on Community Violence: https://www.elca.org/.../social.../community-violence...
Service of Prayer and Lament in Times of Violence: https://download.elca.org/.../Service_of_Prayer-in_Times...

The Episcopal Church's Bishops United Against Gun Violence offers this Litany in the Wake of a Mass Shooting. It is long...that's the point. Sadly, they offer permission to "amend or adjust as necessary." As they just did for Uvalde.
How Long, O Lord?

God, our hearts are broken, again and again, by the scourge of gun violence in our nation. Buffalo. Laguna Beach. Deadly weekends on the streets of Philadelphia. Now the massacre of 19 elementary school students in Uvalde, Texas. God, comfort that families that are grieving right now. God, make us angry at the sin of gun violence and the culture we have created that continues to accept repeated tragedies and then move on without making change. Turn our hearts, God, to work for a society in which children can go to school, worshippers to church, people to their Saturday grocery shopping without fear of being gunned down. Help us, Lord, to turn our thoughts and prayers into actions that protect the innocent and make daily life safer for everyone. Amen.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA | ministrylink.org