Dear Rockville United Church,
I call you to prayer this afternoon, December 8, 2011. If you can spend a moment, please lift up the community of Virginia Tech as an unfolding shooting has occurred. With only years since the 2007 shootings, this tragedy impacts more that the current community tearing open both new and old wounds of grief. Please pray for the two families who have lost loved ones, the entire campus community, the police forces who seek to harness the violent one, and the youth of our country.
To help you in your prayer, I have included a hymn written in response to the Columbine High School shooting by the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette and a portion of the PC(USA) Statement of Faith.
Friends, let us pray for the Prince of Peace, that Christ come in power.
In Christ, Scott
A Prayer for Our Children
God, we have heard it, sounding in the silence:
News of the children lost to this world's violence.
Children of promise! Then without a warning,
Loved ones are mourning.
Jesus, you came to bear our human sorrow;
You came to give us hope for each tomorrow.
You are our life, Lord God's own love revealing.
We need your healing!
Heal us from giving weapons any glory;
Help us, O Prince of Peace, to hear your story;
Help us resist the evil all around here;
May love abound here!
By your own Spirit, give your church a clear voice;
In this world's violence, help us make a new choice.
Help us to witness to the joy your peace brings,
Until your world sings!
Text: Copyright © 1999 Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Brief Statement of Faith
In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth, praying, Come, Lord Jesus!