Dear friends,
Twenty-seven years ago today (or this evening) I was ordained to the priesthood at Church of the Ascension in Knoxville. I’ve spent this anniversary doing something I have had to do too many times in my ordained life — planning a liturgy in response to a mass slaughter. This is a first in that it comes just days after I preached on the mass murder in Buffalo. I’ve posted that sermon here: https://stdunstan.net/a-toxic-brew/ For now I have no more words.
Our worship Sunday will be services of lament for the children and teachers killed in Uvalde, Texas yesterday, and for all victims of mass killings in our country. And please consider wearing the color orange. Hunters wear orange so that other hunters won’t shoot them. It has come to symbolize the honoring of victims of shootings. The fact that this symbol exists says a lot about the sickness at the heart of our country.
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.