Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

It is with deep sadness that, yet another school shooting took place this morning and it occurred within the bounds of our presbytery. Two people lost their lives, and six others were injured. The perpetrator also died.

Including today’s act of violence, there have been 36 school shootings that resulted in injuries or deaths so far in 2022. Families have been torn apart and communities are grieving. The public health crisis of gun violence has been so politicized that the only thing seemingly left for us to do is to wait for next school shooting crying out, “How long, O Lord?” We stand in solidarity with all who grieve, all who long for action and change, and all who long for a future where our children can attend school without fear.

Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, formerly Southwest High School, is located near Oak Hill Presbyterian Church in the Tower Grove neighborhood of St. Louis. Oak Hill’s sanctuary and fellowship hall will be open for prayer and conversation from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The church is located at 4111 Connecticut Street.

We call all to be in a time of prayer this afternoon. Please join us in praying the prayer written following the Umpqua College shooting.

Let us pray.

God of our life, whose presence sustains us in every circumstance,

     as the sound of gunfire again echoes over a college campus

     we seek the grounding power of your love and compassion.

We open our hearts in anger, sorrow and hope:

     for those who have been lost: brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends

     your children, who sought to learn and grow together 

     whose lives have been cut off in the midst of new learning and hopeful growth.

We pray for those who have been spared and those whose lives are changed forever

     that they may find solace, sustenance, and strength in the hard days to come.

We give thanks for first responders:

     who ran toward gunfire, rather than away;

          who dropped everything to save the wounded and comfort survivors.

We pray for doctors and nurses and mental health providers

     who repair what has been broken,

          who try to bring healing and hope in the face

          of the unchecked principalities and powers of violence .

We ask for sustaining courage for those who are suffering and traumatized.

Once again, Holy One, we cry, how long, O Lord? 

We wonder, when will it be enough?

We pray you will forgive our tolerance of cultures of violence and impel us by your

Spirit to renew our commitment to work for an end to gun violence in our nation.

In the wake of an event that should be impossible to contemplate

     but which has become all too common in our experience,

     open our eyes, break our hearts,

     and turn our hands to the movements of your Spirit,

     that our anger and sorrow may unite in service to build a reign of peace,

     where the lion and the lamb may dwell together,

     and terror no longer holds sway over our common life.

In the name of Christ, our healer and our Light, we pray, Amen.

Prayer by the Rev. Dr. Laurie Ann Kraus, Coordinator, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance October 1, 2015

Yours in Christ,

Liz Rolf Kanerva                        Ryan Landino                   Joy Myers

Associate Presbytery Leader       Presbytery Leader                Stated Clerk