“There is something deeply hypocritical about praying for a problem you are unwilling to resolve.”

-Miroslav Volf, Public Theologian

The United Church of Christ National Officers publicly mourn the deaths of three children and three adults in a shooting March 27 at an elementary school in Nashville. The officers continue to call for immediate action through reasonable legislation to prevent gun violence and save lives.

Every child deserves to make it through the school day alive. The officers and national staff of the United Church of Christ mourn with those who lament the needless deaths of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill, violently killed at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

We grieve for and with the families and friends of those who will never come home again. We lament the tortured thoughts and death of one who lost their way to love of themselves and others. We decry our complicity with providing legal and easy access to weapons no one needs. And we grieve a Congress that lacks the conviction to place the safety of our children and adult citizens above political aspirations.

We are in the third month of the new year, and 10,215 persons have died from gun violence in the United States since this year began. There have been 130 mass shootings, and 417 children have been victims of gun violence this year. We join our prayers with those ascending in this moment for these families, and those that ascended for the victims of every mass shooting from Columbine to Nashville. And we will continue to urge Congress and communities toward reasonable gun legislation, an already available response to our impassioned plea.

With Resurrection Hope,

The Elected Officers of the United Church of Christ

The Rev. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President

The Rev. Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister and Vice President

The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, Associate General Minister and Vice President