Southern Baptists gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting opened every session by praying for the families affected by the June 12 mass shooting in Orlando. With 49 murdered and 53 injured by 29-year-old Omar Mateen at a gay nightclub, it is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
A resolution also was passed by messengers calling for Baptists to pray for and extend love to “all affected families of those murdered, injured and otherwise harmed, and first responders … to those devastated by this tragedy.”
Messengers also called for Baptists to donate blood and offer other support.
“We regard those affected by this tragedy as fellow image-bearers of God and our neighbors, and therefore condemn this act of terrorism and others like it and pray for the day when these senseless acts of violence cease,” the resolution reads.
Reaching out
And while Baptists in St. Louis were praying, Baptists in Orlando were reaching out to the community.
First Baptist Church, Orlando, hosted a community-wide prayer meeting June 14 in cooperation with the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and several pastors across various denominations.
Among those injured was a graduate of First, Orlando’s school, The First Academy, who was employed by the church in a non-ministry capacity, said Pastor David Uth. Additionally, one of the church’s security officers was a member of the SWAT team that overcame Mateen, Uth said.
“The only one [church member] that we have uncovered is a young man who graduated from our school and also worked in our tech area,” Uth said. “He was there and was shot. He was not injured seriously, but his friend next to him died, and of course the trauma of having to watch his friend die was overwhelming.”
‘Stand and shine’
Uth addressed the tragedy from the pulpit the morning of June 12, calling worshippers from his 19,000-member congregation to the altar to pray. “We need to pray this morning, and we need to pray that this be a moment for the body of Christ to stand and to shine the light of the gospel and the hope we have in our God,” he told his congregation. “When the night is darkest, that’s when His light shines the brightest. And when the night’s the darkest is when you can be … light and salt.”
Orlando is experiencing “unbelievable grief and [is] overwhelmed that this could happen here,” Uth said. “This is one of those news stories that happens other places and it’s overwhelming, the loss of life, the evil and the hatred that would create this moment.”
Confirmed as terrorism by the FBI, according to media reports, the massacre came days before outgoing SBC President Ronnie Floyd’s already scheduled special prayer service for spiritual awakening and other concerns.
“Our hearts are broken for the people of Orlando,” Floyd said.
“May America rise up and pray for the families of the victims and the entire city. Our Southern Baptist family will do so from across the world as well as from our convention.
“In these perilous times in America,” he said, “we are reminded again of our great need for Jesus Christ and for spiritual awakening in America.”
Respond in compassion
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore responded with compassion.
“Christian, your gay or lesbian neighbor is probably really scared right now. Whatever our genuine disagreements, let’s love and pray,” he tweeted Sunday morning. But in a subsequent blog post at russellmoore.com, he questioned America’s ability to mourn as a unified nation.
“What I wonder is whether the country still has the capacity to grieve together in moments of national crisis,” he said, noting the tragedy had “turned into an excuse for social media wars over everything from gun control to presidential politics.
“Our national divisions increasingly make it difficult for us not just to work together, but even to pause and weep together,” Moore wrote.
“We become more concerned about protecting ourselves from one another’s political pronouncements than we do with mourning with those who mourn.”
Moore also called Southern Baptists to prayer. “We don’t have to agree on the meaning of marriage and sexuality to love one another and to see the murderous sin of terrorism.” Moore wrote. “Let’s also pray for our leaders who have challenging decisions to make in the midst of crisis. … Let’s call for governing authorities to do their primary duty of keeping its people safe from evildoers.”
Frank S. Page, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, expressed similar sentiments.
“We may have disagreements, even substantive disagreements about theology and lifestyle, but this violence is horrific, reprehensible and should be condemned by all,” he said. “Southern Baptists join with our nation in shock and horror at the shooting of so many persons in Orlando, Florida. Our prayers go out to the families.”
The gunman was a resident of St. Lucie County, Florida, and worked as a security guard.
(BP, TAB)
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