by Bishop Bill Gohl
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
I grieve with you the loss of life as a result of gun violence in Las Vegas. Every person wounded or killed is a precious child of God. I grieve with you the ways that violence threatens and destroys life. I am mindful with you that brokenness and sin are not somehow outside of us; great evil has surely been gestated within the Body of Christ, too.
In response to the school shooting in Sandy Hook in 2012, the ELCA Conference of Bishops wrote to the Church: "As people of God we begin by confessing our own brokenness revealed in both our actions and our failure to act. We trust that God will set us free and renew us in our life's work to love our neighbors." (March 4, 2013; A Pastoral Letter on Violence, which also informs much of my thinking today)
In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther says, "We must not kill, either by hand, heart, or word, by signs or gestures, or by aiding and abetting." Violence begins in the human heart. Our task is substantial as we seek the transformation of hearts in the love of Christ, by the power of the Spirit.
William (Bill) Gohl Jr., Bishop
Delaware-Maryland Synod, ELCA
In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther says, "We must not kill, either by hand, heart, or word, by signs or gestures, or by aiding and abetting." Violence begins in the human heart. Our task is substantial as we seek the transformation of hearts in the love of Christ, by the power of the Spirit.
William (Bill) Gohl Jr., Bishop
Delaware-Maryland Synod, ELCA
Resources
- Video: We have Work to Do by Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson
- Community Violence, a social message
- The Body of Christ and Mental Illness, a social message
- The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries, a social statement
- For Peace in God's World, a 1995 social statement.
- Community Violence - Gun Control, a 1993 social policy resolution