Bishop Urges Methodists to Pray for School-Shooting Victims
United Methodist leaders asked their church members to pray in the wake of shootings on a Minnesota Indian reservation that left 10 people dead several more hospitalized.
United Methodist leaders asked their church members to pray in the wake of shootings on a Minnesota Indian reservation that left 10 people dead several more hospitalized.
On March 21, Jeff Weise, a 16-year-old student at Red Lake High School, killed nine people and then himself in the Red Lake Indian reservation. With authorities are still searching for the motives behind the attack that has left the nation shocked, the United Methodist Bishop of Minnesota, Sally Dyck asked the surrounding Christian communities to pray through Easter for God’s comfort and guidance in trying times.
“Like me, you are probably deeply distressed to hear of the shootings at Red Lake that have taken at least ten lives,” said Minnesota Bishop Sally Dyck in an electronic mail posted on the church’s website. “We think about the pain that the victims’ families and friends must be enduring. We fear the violence that may break into our towns, homes, and schools—places where we would like to feel safe.”
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Dyck explained that the denomination has been working through the Red Cross to provide “food and trauma counselors to the people of that area.”
“As early as Tuesday, March 22, folks from Bemidji UMC have begun working with the Red Cross to prepare sandwiches and stew and bring it to the grieving people in Red Lake,” she said.
However, she noted that “at this point there is not much more we can do to offer physical relief.”
Therefore, she asked that Methodists provide “something extremely important: our prayers.”
“This week, on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, we will recall the suffering of Jesus Christ and recognize the anguish of our world’s people. On Easter, we will celebrate the rebirth of hope and new life,” she said.
“Pray for the people of Red Lake. Remember the parents, the relatives, the teachers, the school employees, the neighbors, the friends, the law enforcement agents, and those who will provide care for this grieving community,” she urged.
“This week, as you recall the suffering of Jesus and of our neighbors in Minnesota and around the world, please join me in prayers of lamentation--and Easter hope.”
