On July 17, Bishop Jennifer sent the following message to the diocese in response to the mass shooting at the Greenwood Park Mall. Please pray for the people of St. Thomas, Franklin, and St. Timothy’s, Indianapolis, the two congregations closest to Greenwood.
Dear Ones,
Once again, the epidemic of gun violence has come close to home. This evening, four people died at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, just south of Indianapolis, when a gunman opened fire in the mall’s food court, killing three people. He was then shot and killed by an armed bystander. Two people, one of them a child, were injured in the shooting.
Please pray for those who have died, for their families and those who loved them, for those who are wounded, and for those who will live with the memory of what they saw today for the rest of their lives. Pray, too, for the people of St. Timothy’s, Indianapolis, which is our parish closest to the site of the shooting, and for their ministry in a community that is hurting tonight.
It has become far too easy to respond to the news of yet another mass shooting with grim resignation, to go numb when hearing about the senseless loss of yet more lives at the hands of a gunman. But as Christians, we must respond to each new headline with compassion for those whose lives have been destroyed and with hope that our action and advocacy can change the minds of lawmakers who allow this carnage to continue unabated. In the face of death, we believe in a God of life who calls us to daily prayer, action, and advocacy to reduce gun violence.
As our community grieves, let us become true Good Samaritans by refusing to look away when we see suffering, by binding up the brokenhearted, and standing against the scourge of gun violence in all of its forms, both at home and far away.
Faithfully,
