Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz responds with a prayer of lament to the Aug. 27, 2025, mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, in which two children were killed, and 17 other people were injured during a Mass to mark the first week of school.
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz is MC USA’s denominational minister for Peace and Justice. For more than 25 years, she served as the coordinator o Mennonite Central Committee’s Restorative Justice program. She also co-authored “The Little Book of Restorative Discipline for Schools” and “What Will Happen to Me?” Lorraine graduated from Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work, and earned a master’s in Social Work from Marywood University, Scranton, Pennsylvania. She and her husband attend Blossom Hill Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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Oh Lord,
Our hearts are so heavy with grief for all that is being carried by so many.
We cry out once again for the lives cut short through the violence of bullets.
We cry out for families, for friends, for neighborhoods.
Knowing our cries are not enough.
How long, Oh Lord, must we wake to the news of more violence?
How long, Oh Lord, must our communities be unsafe for so many,
Continuing to be torn apart, our streets turned into places of mourning,
Our homes filled with sorrow?
How long, Oh Lord?
We lament the fear that will haunt classrooms,
The trauma for families and communities,
The ache of empty chairs at meal times and holiday celebrations.
Oh Lord, we ask that you gather the brokenhearted in your embrace,
Strengthen those who grieve and give them comfort and peace as they experience a loss of hope.
Fill us with courage and a holy anger to rise once more against the tide of violence.
Give us a passion to work for peace, living into the vision of Jesus’ words to do justice and walk with our God.
In Jesus’ name, who gives us healing and hope, we pray.
Amen
For further engagement
This “Learn, Pray, Join: End Gun Violence” initiative calls us to understand the gun violence crisis in the U.S. through the lens of our faith and seek ways to bring God’s hope and healing to our hurting communities, through education, disarming practices, advocacy and standing as a visible witness for peace.
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” — 2 Corinthians 5:20