A Pastoral Letter from our Rector

Dear Parish Family,

Our hearts are breaking once again. Racial hatred and gun violence have become traumatically commonplace in this country. On May 14, ten people went to the grocery to buy food, one went to buy a birthday cake for his son, and they were shot and killed because of the color of their skin. The next day, an attempted mass shooting occurred at a church in Laguna Woods, California. Yesterday, at least 19 children and two teachers were killed in their classroom at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Our hearts are breaking. Our hearts go out to the families of all the victims, to all victims of racial hatred, to all victims of gun violence, to all families sending their children off to school each morning.

Enough is enough.

I hope we are all willing to educate ourselves around the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution – what it says and what it doesn’t say – and to educate ourselves on the intent of the inventor of the AR-15 assault rifle. I hope we will study the rates of mental illness in this country and in other countries, the rates of mass shootings in this country and in other countries. I hope we will take the time to do some research on the gun lobby and read the text of HR8, passed by the House in 2019. Then, I hope we will honor our privilege and vote in every election.

Now more than ever, let us remember the importance of leaning on one another, supporting and loving one another to endure heartache, and be inspired to effect change in this world. I fervently believe in the power of prayer, drawing us toward God and binding us together in Christ’s love. Let us have the perseverance to continue to pray for racial reconciliation and an end to gun violence. Christ’s love is all about justice and righteousness, respecting the dignity of every human being, loving our neighbor, however different, however far-and-wide, as our self. Let us lean in towards one another; let us stand together in Christ’s love.

We will offer two opportunities to come together this evening in worship. At 6 p.m. in St. Martin’s Chapel, we will offer Holy Eucharist on this Eve of the Feast of the Ascension. At 8 p.m., we will offer Compline, a service of Night Prayers, by Zoom (you can view the recording below). I hope you will join us. I hold you all in my heart and prayers.

In Christ,

Jeanne Leinbach+