| Shootings prompt prayer vigil By Erik Alsgaard UMConnection Staff One of the victims of the apparently random shooting spree in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia was a United Methodist. James Martin, 55, was an active member and trustee of Ashton UMC in Ashton. He was killed in the parking lot of a grocery store on Oct. 2. My hope is that our response to this violence will be that instead of destroying community, we can have a renewal of feeling the pain of others, said the Rev. Jeff Jones, pastor. We need to help each other out; to move toward being more engaged in our communities. ... Crisis and danger can happen at any time. All life is precious, Jones said. Martin was the vice-chairman of the churchs board of trustees. According to Jones, Martins wife, Billie, teaches Sunday School and plays in the hand bell choir. Their son, Ben, is member of the youth group. Prior to being members at Ashton, the Martins were long-time members of Glenmont UMC in Wheaton. Their former pastor, the Rev. Kay Barger, joined Jones in officiating at Martins funeral Oct. 9. Bishop Felton Edwin May of the Baltimore-Washington Conference issued a statement Oct. 4 in the wake of the violence. On behalf of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, I extend profound sympathy to the family of James Martin for the senseless murder and untimely death of this exemplary United Methodist layman. I feel a personal grief at this loss of a precious life. Indeed, we grieve and express our sympathies for all the precious lives taken from us in these terrible shootings. They heighten our awareness and rub our sensitivities raw to the harsh reality of attacks and murders both indiscriminate and intentional that occur daily in communities throughout our region, our nation and our world. The commandment Thou shalt not kill rings loud and clear as a call from God for us to refrain from and oppose violence even the threat of preemptive violence against human beings anywhere in the world, said the bishop. It simply cannot and should not be tolerated by people of God. What we should all feel on this somber occasion is holy grief; that is, not merely sorrow but also the expression of love, compassion and active concern for the sacred lives of all human beings as an affirmation of our faith and obedience to God. | 
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