Beloveds,

As most have heard, this morning a mass shooter opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis during a school mass, injuring dozens and killing at least two children in attendance. God, have mercy.

Parents, children, community members, and neighbors, are grappling with how to respond to this shocking act of violence. No one should fear for their safety or the safety of their children while they are at school or church. While we are still learning more about what happened, we know that grief, fear, shock, trauma, and anger are rippling across Minneapolis and the region. We know that there are a number of ELCA congregations who are grieving and accompanying the Annunciation and South Minneapolis communities. Some members of our congregations have been directly affected, those who act as first responders, those who care for the hurt (in body and spirit) at our local hospitals, those who are providing pastoral care, those who are safe and hugging neighbors and family a little tighter, those who are planning vigils and showing up in prayer or presence.

In a moment like this we may think of the Psalmist’s lament:

Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
– Psalm 69

In a country where gun violence is the leading cause of death for children, we must lament, grieve, and condemn, but also work together to change this reality. The ELCA’s Social Message “Gun-related Violence” reminds us that “Persisting violence erodes social capital, impairs social networks, and breeds hopelessness…” In Minneapolis, we are holding the trauma of two days of gun violence as a community, as yesterday another mass shooter killed one person and wounded six in front of Cristo Rey High School. As people of faith, we are called to “peacemaking towards a vast reduction of gun-related violence” through advocacy, community building, and healing. The pervasiveness of gun-violence in the U.S. is not a reality we should accept.

It’s important in these moments that we hold one another in tenderness and prayer, and that we tend to our own spirits. And we know that God sits with us in this grief, praying with sighs too deep for words.

As you plan worship this week, please hold Annunciation, the families, the victims, and all who are affected in prayer. There are resources that may be helpful including Communal Lament Sighs Too Deep for Words. Consider how you can hold space as a congregation for conversation and reflect on how we can work together towards a more just and peaceful future.

Tonight, a number of communities are holding prayer vigils and space for lament and spiritual care. Consider joining or sharing them.

With compassion,
Bishop Jen