orlando

ReconcilingWorks thanks the Rev. Richard Jaech, Bishop of the Southwestern Washington Synod, ELCA, for this pastoral letter comforting the LGBTQ community and challenging the church to be more intentional and courageous in its welcome to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Dear Friends in Christ, Two weeks have passed since the horrible shootings at the Pulse Orlando Bar, and I continue to process the grief and pain of the event. In such tragedies, the pain increases as ...

June 20, 2016 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, This is a follow up to my June 13 letter about the shooting in Orlando. In the midst of my own pain and anger about that shooting, I needed to dig deep within myself and reflect on how to be an instrument of God’s peace and not just another angry voice. I sincerely hope that you have been steeped in prayer and reflection over this past week. I also hope that you have been discovering ways in which you can be an instrument of God’s peace in...

This poem is written by Rabbi Bradley Artson and was presented by Rabbi Steven Rubenstein at the Interfaith Service of Prayer and Remembrance in Detroit hosted by the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan and the Southeast Michigan Synod, ELCA,  June 18, 2016. It is shared with permission.   Pulse: When Dancing Is Political   There’s really only one way to dance: Hold your courage close to your heart, Hold your courage close to your heart, as you step toward the music, trustin...

Dear Friends in Christ, It has taken some time for me to write this letter. Like many of you, I have been in shock since I woke to the Sunday news of another mass shooting. I look to our world and I wonder, “What is going on?” Are there any words I can add to the Facebook posts, open letters, news reports and tweets? My words will never be enough, but it is a place to begin. First, here are a few things I know to be true: 1) I know the dead are in the arms of God. I invite you to join me i...

My dear friends, It has been a few days now since we first heard of the horrendous events in Orlando, and still our hearts and minds can barely comprehend. 49 people slaughtered and 53 more injured by a hate filled individual affected by extremist rhetoric. Members of the LGBTQ community deliberately targeted. We are better than this, and as Christ’s church, in this place and time, we need to speak loudly and clearly our Christian truth that all people are created in the divine image and all ...

A pastoral letter to the Metropolitan New York Synod. My Dear Sisters and Brothers: Grace, mercy, and peace to all of you in the Name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. There is enough evidence for me to realize that not everyone reacted in the same way I did to the horrid violence and evil we saw in Orlando early last Sunday. I was simply, overwhelmingly stunned. My initial reaction was utter silence. I still lean in that direction. When chaos surrounds us and terror is profound, I fall...

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, I am writing with a heavy heart as again our country is mourning the senseless loss of over 50 lives at the hands of hatred and violence. This time, the particular target was the LGBTQ community. Later this week, we will mark the one year anniversary of the massacre at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, SC, which resulted in nine black lives being taken. In between these two events, we have wept too often at the senseless violence that has penetrated ou...

A Response from the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago to the Shootings in Orlando: We, the members of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago, add our own voices of lament and outrage to the cry rising up across our nation for peace, justice and healing in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. We remember with gratitude and bitter sorrow the victims of this wanton act of violence. We pray for comfort and hope for the famil...

Once again this year as summer begins, we find ourselves face-to-face with a massacre. Last year on June 17, it was the Charleston massacre. This year on June 13 it is the Orlando massacre. Our hearts are heavy. Many of you found about this after worship this past Sunday or perhaps only heard about it in passing beforehand and didn't get an opportunity to address it. It's okay. We cannot be on top of everything all the time. There will be plenty of Sundays ahead to address hatred and violence...

“Even with darkness sealing us in, We breathe Your name, And through all the days that follow so fast, We trust in You; Endless Your grace, O endless Your grace …” [From Stephen Paulus’ Pilgrims’ Hymn, words by Michael Dennis Browne] These are days of profound sadness with the loss of 50 lives and many more injured through the hateful shooting in Orlando this past weekend. Unprovoked violence against the LGBTQ community grieves all of us in the Saint Paul Area Synod. I invite your prayer...