Beloveds,
We are heartbroken at the tragedy that has occurred in Uvalde today. We have been in touch with the clerk of session and also with the Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, their moderator. While we are grateful to hear that no one in our congregation was wounded and that all their families are safe, the entire community has been impacted and is shaken.
The city is next to impossible to access this day as the details are still unfolding and there is understandably a lot of police activity. So much is yet unknown. So, the congregation is planning a service of prayer and wholeness for Wednesday night, May 25, at 6:30 pm. The church is located at 300 N. Getty in Uvalde. If you are able to join us, we know it would mean so much to the congregation. If you’re not able to attend, please keep the congregation, the schools, and the entire city in your prayers. Please contact the Presbytery office if you need more information.
In the meantime, we offer this prayer written by the Rev. Laurie Kraus, the associate mission director of compassion, peace and justice of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
God our shelter, hold us under the shadow of your wings as we bow before you in grief and pain.
We pray for each family who has lost a beloved child, a parent, a friend;
we pray for those who have witnessed horror, and are wounded in body or spirit,
for each of them is a child made in your image.
We pray for ourselves, that we will find strength to support the brokenhearted,
grace to find our way in the darkness of grief, anger and loss;
light to sense your presence, even in the valley of the shadow of death.
Restore our hopes, our hearts, even as we weep with grief and tremble with anger.
Fill us, your wounded, willing people, with a peace that passes understanding,
the courage to nurture healing and hope,
and the willingness to bear the Christ light, even in these days of shadow.
In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
