Bishop offers solace to Virginia Tech
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I am deeply saddened and troubled by yesterday?s shootings at Virginia Tech. In this tragedy we lost future doctors, engineers, church leaders, community leaders, workers, parents, and teachers. We lost people who would have made a difference in the lives of others. It is a deep and tragic loss to the soul of creation. I invite each of you to pray for the students of Virginia Tech and their families. I am also calling for all of our Baltimore-Washington Conference Churches this weekend to set aside time during worship to pray for the students and families of Virginia Tech and for an end to violence, hatred and irrational acts that plague our society.
Having a daughter who is finishing her senior year in college and two children that have recently graduated from college, I recognize the vulnerability we feel in a violent fallen world that has little regard for the sacredness and importance of young people.
This tragedy will increase our fear, raise our doubts and challenge our faith in humanity and even God. Rather than resisting these questions, I invite you to center yourself in God and prayerfully consider your emotions and feelings with family, friends and fellow believers.
As pastors and laity, I encourage you to be particularly sensitive to the range of emotions and feelings you will witness this week and provide safe spaces for conversation and prayer. I also encourage you to assure people of God?s love and ultimate plan for our healing and salvation. In this season of Easter, we are reminded that Jesus the victim became Jesus the victor, the crucified one was resurrected in an action by God that proclaimed resurrection is the final answer to hatred, violence and death.
We also have much work to do. God does not want us to rely only on a resurrection at the end of life but to live a redeemed life now and through God?s power to be constantly creating a world more like the
Today though, I want you to be in prayer for the students and families that experience great pain and great loss. This is a time for mourning and prayer. Tomorrow will be a day for prayer and action.
May the peace of Christ abide in you and sustain you for these days,
Your brother and bishop,
John R. Schol
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