The faithful across Atlanta paused Saturday to offer prayers for the families of the victims of Friday’s school shootings in Connecticut and for a horrified naton.
At the Cathedral of St. Philip in Buckhead, where about 300 people gathered for the ordination of deacons, there was a moment of silence and prayers to heal the broken-hearted.
“We pray for those scarred in mind, body and soul by this event,” Episcopal Bishop Rob Wright said.
Even more outpourings are expected today at Sunday Masses and worship services throughout metro Atlanta. Some ministers said they were scrapping traditional Christmas-themed sermons to talk about the massacre and hoping to find the words of comfort they know many need.
At the cathedral, the Rev. Wright said the tragic events could not go unmentioned.
“For people of faith gathered on a day like today, it would be negligent not to say something, given what people have endured and what we’re going through right now, all of us,” the Rev. Wright said.
He told the crowd that the Connecticut school shootings needs to be a call to political action to reduce gun violence.
“How many children have to die before those of us who lead take action around limiting automatic weapons?” he said before the service.
Friday’s rampage, which killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., was the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting. The shooter, Adam Lanza, also killed his mother and committed suicide, authorities said. Only worse was the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which a gunman killed 32 people and then himself.
Although the tragedy is 950 miles from metro Atlanta, local reaction was swift.
The massacre was discussed from the pulpit at the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday at St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Duluth. Archbishop Wilton Gregory planned to comment on it during Holy Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King this morning, a spokeswoman said.
The Rev. Gregory Sutton, pastor of Jackson Memorial Baptist Church in Atlanta, was contemplating Saturday what to say today.
“I know everyone is terribly upset,” he said.
With the shooting massacre coming so close to Christmas, Rev. Sutton said, he’ll try to bring solace to his congregation by reminding them that Jesus came to bring hope and comfort to the world.
“People are believing this is a sign of the times and that we’re living in the last days,” he said.
Sutton said he was with a group of about 75 mostly young people for a banquet on Friday night. They all prayed for the victims and their families.
“You could tell they were upset,” he said.
Cathedral of Christ the King encouraged members of the congregation to post prayers on its Facebook page.
One woman wrote: “Help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand, to believe and trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life everlasting.”
About the Author
