Episcopal Bishops Against Gun Violence are calling for gun legislation in the wake of this week’s mass shooting in South Florida.
The Rev. Bill Yates used to love to hunt and fish while growing up in Lakeland, but he never favored the use of an AR-15 – the weapon that has been used in countless mass shootings in America, including the one this week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Yates, who is the vicar of the Church of the Redeemer in Avon Park and interim director at Camp Wingmann in Avon Park, is one of many Episcopalians who are in favor of gun legislation in the wake of the mass shooting that left 17 students and faculty members dead at the South Florida school.
The incident, which was the 18th school shooting this year and one of the worst school shootings in history, has prompted Episcopal bishops to arrange for services of lamentation at churches around the country, and bishops and other church leaders are calling for legislation against gun violence to end “these lethal spasms of violence in our country,” according to a story by David Paulsen of Episcopal News Service.
“This is the first time in a long time that we’ve had a request like that,” Yates said. “It’s a rare thing. They don’t do it very often. If I wasn’t so busy with Camp Wingmann and everything, I would do something special.”
As it is, Yates said he will have special prayers for the victims and families of the Stoneman Douglas shooting at services on Sunday, Feb. 18. “We will dedicate prayers as we always do for things like these,” he said.
The latest shooting hit close to home for Episcopal leaders as Carmen Schentrup, a 16-year-old student who was a youth group leader at St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs, was killed, according to the Episcopal News Service. The church posted news of her death on its Facebook page, but asked that the public respect the family’s privacy in this time of grief.
The Diocese of Southeast Florida released a statement after the shootings:
“There are no words that can adequately give voice to the madness and the violence done to those gunned down, and to their families and friends so cruelly robbed of those they loved. There are no words to describe the pain of loss and grief, of shock and horror, of outrage and anger, only the anguished cries that well up from the very depths of our being. There are no words to make sense of what makes no sense, and in the face of such senseless killing we are numbed and rendered speechless.”
Bishops plan to announce a schedule of services of lamentation on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EpiscopaliansAgainstGunViolence/ on the internet.