United Methodist bishop prays for shooting victims
By United Methodist News Service
Dec. 10, 2007
Offering prayers for those affected by two shootings in Colorado, a
United Methodist bishop questioned the use of guns “in a society that
claims to be civil and compassionate.”
Five people died in two separate incidents Dec. 9, including a gunman, and five others were wounded.
Bishop Felton E. May
|
Bishop Felton E. May, interim chief executive of the United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries, issued a Dec. 10 statement lamenting the
loss of life from the two incidents, which may be related. “May God heal
the bodies of survivors and the grief of those who mourn the dead,” he
said.
Early on Dec. 9, a gunman killed Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse,
24, after being refused lodging at Youth With a Mission, a live-in
Christian missionary center in Arvada, Colo. Two other staff members
were wounded, one critically.
Later that day, at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, two teenage
sisters, Rachael Works, 16, and Stephanie Works, 18, were shot and
killed in the parking lot and their father, David Works, 51, was
wounded. A female security guard shot and killed the gunman as he
entered the church. The gunman’s identity has not been released.
During a Dec. 10 press conference, the Rev. Brady Boyd, New Life senior
pastor, said the church’s biggest concern was for the Works family. “One
of the young girls just returned from an overseas mission trip – they
are very committed here,” he said. He added that the church also was
praying for the family of the attacker.
“We long to know the reasons for such outbursts of fury, which occur at
many types of places — schools, shopping malls, offices and churches,”
May said in his statement. “We long for healing of those whose rage or
confusion or hatred leads them to such wanton violence.
“We also long for effective legislation and law enforcement to control
or ban the weapons used in these kinds of attacks. Yet another wave of
shootings, including those in Colorado, sends a signal that guns have
very little or any place in a society that claims to be civil and
compassionate.”
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Related Articles
Pastor: guard save ‘hundreds of lives’ at church
Links in church shootings probed
Resources
Denver Post
New Life Church
Youth With a Mission |