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April 16, 2021
Dear Indiana-Kentucky Conference,
This morning I write to you with a heavy heart as a mass shooting has taken place at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis late last night. Details are still unfolding as to what took place, but as of this writing 8 have died and several others are wounded in the hospital. Our prayers go to the families of the victims who were harmed in this traumatic event, along with the FedEx employees and the entire Indianapolis community. As an organization, the Indiana-Kentucky Conference is located in the Indianapolis metro area and has been a faith partner in this community since our inception as a Conference. So, our hearts are heavy this morning and we ask that you, our member churches and authorized ministers, join us in praying for our community and those impacted most directly.
As people of faith, moments such as these elicit a tapestry of emotional and spiritual responses within us. We grieve for the families and for our communities as we hold these moments so tenderly. But, we also cry out along with the prophets and the psalmist in asking “How long, O Lord?” A culture can only go so long without reckoning with the violence and trauma of its collective life. It is past time that we get to the root of our violence and so I pray along with St. Francis that God would make us “an instrument of your peace.” As a Just Peace and WISE Conference, won’t you join me not only in praying for these families, but in working towards the kind of peacemaking and healing of our collective trauma that embodies what it means for us to “love and serve like Jesus” as we say as a Conference.
May God’s peace and healing surround each of you.
May God Keep You,
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