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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

It was the first day of high school for Rebekah Harner, the daughter of Perry Hall UMC’s pastor. She and her friends were sitting in the cafeteria when kids started shouting just three tables away from them. There was silence. Then the sound of gunfire.

On the morning of Aug. 27, a student at Perry Hall High School was shot by a fellow 15-year-old student, who was taken into custody. The victim, who was in critical condition, was flown by a Medevac helicopter to Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center.

The Rev. Victor Harner was in a meeting at the church when his cell phone rang. “It was the first day of school. I thought what has she forgotten to take with her? She said, ‘There’s been a shooting. We don’t know what’s happening right now.’”

The school responded in an exemplary way, immediately informing parents of events as they unfolded.

Rebekah and the rest of the students, after a time of being on lock down, were released from school.

She shared with her father a prayer she had written on Facebook, asking God to be present with the victim and the shooter, and she prayed for others, that the things in their lives might never hurt so much that it brings them to the point where they would take up a gun.

Harner is proud of his daughter’s expression of faith and of her grace-filled response.

The Rev. Karin Walker, superintendent of the Baltimore Suburban District, shared some of Rebekah’s same sentiments about the shooting.

"What a sad day when a youth is so desperate for abundant life that this is the action taken,” Walker said. “Our hearts grieve for the families and students whose school year has started with fear and anxiety.  Let us pray  that the community will gather together and support each other, and that as parents and faith community leaders, we will embrace all students and faculty, to promote healing and a path forward."

Bishop John Schol was moving his belongings to a new episcopal position in New Jersey, which he begins Sept. 1, when he heard about the shooting.

“Over the last several years we have witnessed a rise in school shootings and most recently shootings in a movie theater in Denver, a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin and near the Empire State building in New York,” the bishop said. “This senseless violence in our society is a continual reminder of how fragile life is and that people see senseless violence as a way to deal with life’s challenges. We do not always understand the causes but we do know the forces of darkness and light, God and evil are at work against each other.”

Bishop Schol called upon the people of the Baltimore-Washington Conference and all United Methodists to take a stance to end violence.

“We who are followers of Christ must continually bear witness to God’s love and work toward the healing and reconciliation that our society so desperately needs. In the midst of our own vulnerability, we must engage with and be present with all people to share God’s grace and model Christian community,” he said. “This is not a time for the church to play it safe but to engage in prayer and building communities of God’s shalom.”

Statement from Bishop John Schol following the Aug. 27 shooting at Perry Hall High School

The first day of school at Perry Hall High School outside of Baltimore was interrupted by the shooting of a student by another student. The wounded student is in critical condition. I call upon all people to pray for the student, the faculty, administration and the student who is in custody for the shooting. Over the last several years we have witnessed a rise in school shootings and most recently shootings in a movie theater in Denver, a Sihk Temple in Wisconsin and near the Empire State building in New York.

This senseless violence in our society is a continual reminder of how fragile life is and that people see senseless violence as a way to deal with life’s challenges. We do not always understand the causes but we do know the forces of darkness and light, God and evil are at work against each other. We who are followers of Christ must continually bear witness to God’s love and work toward the healing and reconciliation that our society so desperately needs. In the midst of our own vulnerability, we must engage with and be present with all people to share God’s grace and model Christian community. This is not a time for the church to play it safe but to engage in prayer and building communities of God’s shalom.

Even amid feelings of grief and pain, I call upon all United Methodists in the Baltimore-Washington Conference to especially lift up the school children in this region, that they may begin a new year of classes safe from violence and harm. Our schools need to be sanctuaries of learning and our churches need to be places of prayer and witness, where all people experience the love and grace of God.

I pray that God may be present in the lives of each young person in our midst, that they may grow up feeling safe, loved and secure in the knowledge that they are loved by God and empowered to be extraordinary.

I know your prayers are joined with mine. Please join me also in recommitting to help our congregations and our children know that violence is not the way of Christ. Our lord is the Lord of Peace who cherishes all people. May we be like Christ.

Bishop John R. Schol