Just add this one to the topics I must have missed in seminary: “horrible human disasters and how to deal with them.”
Recent events at Virginia Tech have certainly affected the Calvary congregation.
Specifically, three families in our church have members who are currently students, one who lived directly above the women who were shot in the dorm.
Why, why, why?
I am the pastor and … I DON’T KNOW WHY.
And I even went to seminary.
I feel just as horrible, just as scared, just as outraged …. as everyone else.
One thing I know for sure: we clergy are stymied just like everyone else, wondering what to say and what to do, wondering how on earth a horrific event like this could have taken place when we believe … we believe in a God of goodness and grace?
Why?
I am asking the same question as I think about my kids at school every day and wonder about the state of this country, where anyone anywhere can pick up a gun and kill, kill, kill … it just seems so wrong.
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy on us.
Amy Butler is senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. This column appeared originally on her blog.
Founder of Invested Faith, she previously served as pastor of several churches, including as the seventh senior minister and first woman at the helm of The Riverside Church in the City of New York. Butler holds degrees from Baylor University, the International Baptist Theological Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary. She is a contributing correspondent at Good Faith Media.
