gun violence
Texas town holds 1st Sunday service since church attack
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 12, 2017
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (AP) — Members of the First Baptist Church will hold a church service for the first time since a gunman opened fire inside the small church a week earlier in the worst mass shooting in Texas history.
Last Sunday, domestic violence came to church
By Nancy Nason-Clark — November 10, 2017
(RNS) — There is a holy hush that permeates church life when it comes to thinking about domestic violence within and beyond congregational life, writes Nancy Nason-Clark.
The glue that kept Sutherland Springs together before and after the shootings
By Yonat Shimron — November 10, 2017
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (RNS) — Within 24 hours of the mass shooting, another church in town sprang into action, as the coordinating center for the emergency response.
Who decides when we as a country pray and when we act?
By Chloe Breyer — November 9, 2017
(RNS) — 'The dichotomy between prayers and action portrayed in the Twitter feeds of our leaders is a false one and serves neither the dead, the bereaved, nor our nation as a whole,' writes Chloe Breyer. (COMMENTARY)
Pence tells grieving town ‘Faith is stronger than evil’
By Kimberly Winston — November 9, 2017
FLORESVILLE, Texas (RNS) — The memorial service, held in a neighboring town of Sutherland Springs, followed Christian tradition and was replete with Bible readings and prayers to Jesus.
Mother Emanuel AME pastor shows solidarity with Sutherland Springs
By Adelle M. Banks — November 8, 2017
(RNS) — The Rev. Eric S.C. Manning hopes to visit Texas church members because 'when trauma happens sometimes those who have gone through it are able to provide a little bit more of an encouragement.'
Texas church to be demolished, like other mass killing sites before it
By Yonat Shimron — November 8, 2017
(RNS) — In what is becoming a grim tradition, many mass shooting sites are demolished and then rebuilt. But some churches that have experienced horrific killings have sought to reclaim the existing sacred spaces.
Texas law requires unborn child of shooting victim be counted
By Kimberly Winston — November 7, 2017
(RNS) — More than three dozen states have similar laws, most of which stem from the 2002 murder of a California woman.
Russell Moore: Southern Baptists feel the horror ‘more viscerally’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 7, 2017
(RNS) — Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm, talks about how Southern Baptists feel the attack on one of their churches personally, and can remain divided on gun control.
Local Christians and some Muslims surround a grieving town with love
By Yonat Shimron — November 7, 2017
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (RNS) — If the mass shooter who killed 26 people at First Baptist Church was motivated by hate, scores of faith-based groups who gathered here said they were motivated by love.
Texas churches weigh putting armed volunteers in the pews
By Texas Tribune — November 7, 2017
(Texas Tribune) — Gun regulation advocates worry that it can be difficult to determine who is the assailant during an attack when everyone has a gun.
Texas authorities: We won’t mention shooter’s name again
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 7, 2017
(AP) — 'We do not want to glorify him and what he has done,' the regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
3 things not to say after a gun massacre
By Lauren Markoe — November 6, 2017
(RNS) — We can permanently eliminate three overused and well-known linguistic phrases that prevent us from recognizing the grim reality, the brutal truth of gun violence in the United States.
Churches look to tighten security, even arm congregants, after Texas shooting
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 6, 2017
(RNS) — Across the country, many churches and other places of worship are considering security measures as mass shootings have become a tragically familiar narrative in the United States.
Gun massacres: Why aren’t more churches telling the truth?
By Lauren Markoe — November 6, 2017
(RNS) — The simple truth is that, while no law can prevent a specific mass shooting, commonsense measures can make them less likely overall. This is not debatable. Truth-telling churches should proclaim this loudest of all!
