Title: ELCA Synod Bishop Expresses 'Shock, Sadness' over Missouri Shootings ELCA NEWS SERVICE
February 8, 2008
ELCA Synod Bishop Expresses 'Shock, Sadness' over Missouri Shootings 08-010-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt, bishop of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), expressed "deep shock and great sadness" in the wake of the Feb. 7 shooting incident in Kirkwood, Mo., that left six people dead, including the gunman.
The shootings happened as a meeting of the Kirkwood City Council was beginning. A lone gunman shot and killed a police officer outside Kirkwood City Hall, and took the officer's gun and his into the council meeting. The gunman shot and fatally wounded another police officer, two members of the council and the city's public works director before police shot and killed the gunman. Kirkwood's mayor was seriously wounded, and a newspaper reporter was shot in the hand.
"This is an unspeakable tragedy for all who were involved and for the community of Kirkwood," Mansholt wrote in a Feb. 8 message to synod congregations. "My thoughts and prayers are with all who were affected. I pray especially for the families of the five innocent victims whose lives were cut short so suddenly, and for the family of the shooter, who must be filled with anguish and hurt in the aftermath of what happened."
No members of ELCA congregations were directly involved, Mansholt wrote. The Central States Synod includes ELCA congregations in Kansas and Missouri.
All people are affected by such a tragedy, and there will be many questions to ponder in the days to come, he wrote.
"There is one certainty, however. God is with us at all times in the midst of great sorrow, tragedy and death. In the letter to the Romans, Paul says there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from God's love for us in Jesus Christ, not even the senseless killings. In this season of Lent as Christians contemplate the mystery of Christ's death, we find comfort and hope in God who walks with us through the darkness of this world to light and life eternal. God's love in Christ triumphs over the sin and darkness of this world," Mansholt wrote.
"In the midst of things we are unable to understand or comprehend, we continue to trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life eternal. In that promise of God there is healing and hope for the whole world," he wrote.
Mansholt concluded his message by asking people to join him in prayer and support for the community of Kirkwood, for Trinity Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Kirkwood, for all ELCA congregations in the surrounding area, and for all other people in the greater metropolitan St. Louis area.
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The full text of Bishop Mansholt's statement is at http://www.css-ELCA.org/index.php3 on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog