God's mercy is for all

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Since the tragedy at Arapahoe High School this past Friday, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have joined with people of faith in prayer.
   
We are praying for Claire Davis and her family as she struggles for life. We are praying for the students and staff at Arapahoe High School as they deal with the emotional trauma of this shooting. We are praying in gratitude for first responders and law enforcement officials who responded so effectively. And we are praying for the family of Karl Pierson, as they face the implications of this tragedy for themselves and the wider community.
   
In the midst of things we cannot understand, amid times that leave us angry and heartbroken, we cling to the promise revealed to us in Jesus Christ that there is no human situation that is outside of God’s loving, redeeming and healing presence. 
   
For us that promise is birthed in a manger, where the Christ child entered a world that was as mired in violence and heartache as our own today. That promise is demonstrated in the life and ministry of Jesus who reached out to heal the sick and suffering, who walked with the vulnerable and rejected. That promise is revealed to us most profoundly in the cross of Christ, where we believe God fully experienced the depth of human suffering. 
   
Yet the story does not end there. The empty tomb and the risen Jesus are our assurance that the God who suffers with us always brings forth new life.
     
Trusting in this promise, we are committed to accompanying all people impacted by this tragedy. Our local congregations will continue to gather with youth and their families to pray and to process these difficult events. 
     
We will continue to partner with other faith communities and social service agencies in offering resources for healing. We will make continued offers of pastoral support to the Pierson family, since Karl was baptized and confirmed in an ELCA congregation. 

     
Above all, we will continue to pray that all who have been touched by these events may experience for themselves the profound presence of a God whose love knows no bounds and whose mercy is for all.

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