ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 17, 2007  

ELCA Pastor Delivers Christian Message at Virginia Tech Convocation
07-058-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. William H. King, Lutheran campus
pastor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Va., and staff of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), delivered the Christian
message April 17 at the Virginia Tech Convocation where students,
faculty and others of the community gathered to remember the
victims of yesterday's shooting on campus.  According to the
Virginia Tech Web site, at least 33 people died including the
gunman.
     "We're gathered this afternoon for many purposes.  To weep
for lost friends and families, to mourn our lost innocence, to
walk forward in the wake of unspeakable tragedy, to embrace hope
in the shadow of despair, to join our voices and our longing for
peace, healing and understanding which is much greater than any
single faith community, to embrace that which unifies, and to
reject the seductive temptation to hate," said King, who also
serves as deployed staff of the Department for Campus Ministry,
ELCA Vocation and Education.
     "We gather together weeping, yes, we weep with an agony too
deep for words and sighs that are inexpressible, but also we
gather affirming the sovereignty of life over death.  At a time
such as this the darkness of evil seems powerful indeed.  It
casts a pall over our simple joys, joys as simple as playing
Frisbee on the Drill Field.  We struggle to imagine a future
beyond this agony.  If we ever harbored any illusions that our
campus is an idyllic refuge from the violence of the rest the
world, they are gone forever.  And yet we come to this place to
testify that the light of love cannot be defeated.  Amid all our
pain, we confess that the light shines in the darkness and the
darkness has not overcome it," said King.
     "We cannot undo yesterday's tragic events, but we can sit in
patient silence with those who mourn as they seek for a way
forward.  As we share light one with another, we reclaim our
campus.  Let us deny death's power to rob us of all that we have
loved about Virginia Tech, our community.  Let us cast our lot
with hope in defiance of despair," said King, who invited the
convocation to a moment of silence.
     President George W. Bush addressed the convocation.  "Laura
and I have come to Blacksburg today with hearts full of sorrow.
This is a day of mourning for the Virginia Tech community, and it
is a day of sadness for our entire nation.  In this time of
anguish, I hope you know that people all over this country are
thinking about you and asking God to provide comfort for all who
have been affected," he said.
     "People who have never met you are praying for you.  They're
praying for your friends who have fallen and who are injured.
There's a power in these prayers, a real power.  In times like
this, we can find comfort in the grace and guidance of a loving
God," said Bush, who ordered flags to be flown at half-staff
through sunset on Sunday, April 22.
     Worship will take place at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church,
an ELCA congregation located across the street from the
university's campus, the evening of April 17.  After the service
worshippers will be invited to join the prayer vigil taking place
on Virginia Tech's Drill Field, said the Rev. Gary R. Schroeder,
pastor, Luther Memorial Lutheran Church.  "Many people have lost
friends, colleagues and neighbors," he said.  "We're a close-knit
community."
     The Rev. James F. Mauney, bishop of the ELCA Virginia Synod,
Salem, and Jan Tobias, Lutheran Disaster Response coordinator for
Virginia, are expected to attend the service.

Letter to members of the ELCA Virginia Synod
     In an April 16 letter to members of the ELCA Virginia Synod,
Mauney said, "Our pastors and people in the Blacksburg area have
been responding with a host of others all day long.  It will be a
day for them that they will not forget.  I am grateful for the
presence of our campus ministry at Virginia Tech and for our
campus pastors, Bill King and (the Rev.) Joanna Stallings. I am
grateful for the parish of Luther Memorial (and) Pastor Gary
Schroeder, who work with the campus ministry at Virginia Tech.
     "It is a long, troubling night as families wait to be
contacted either by their children or by authorities.  It is the
time between seeing the great cloud of the explosion and knowing
that there is yet a powerful shock wave that is coming.  The
shock wave will come as the names of victims are released," he
said.
     "We all wait to hear, parents and children.  At this
international university the names could be from anywhere, and
they are all precious to our Lord, who knew violent death at the
hands of others, and a heavenly Father who has known the death of
an only Son," Mauney said.
     "It is also a time of prayers for healing for those wounded
or injured.  There will be wounds of mind and heart and soul to
be healed as well.  It is a time for prayers of forgiveness," he
said.
     "For many, this night is a time of some quiet thankfulness
as children have called home.
     "I am grateful to God for the vast array of gifted, talented
law enforcement personnel, rescue workers, nurses, physicians,
chaplains, pastors, teachers, and a host of others who have
risked and served for everyone who was in need before them this
day," said Mauney.  "Let us remember all the administration,
staff, faculty, students, campus ministry, and families of
Virginia Tech in our prayers this night.  It is yet a time of
coming lamentation."
- - -
     Audio of King's message is available at
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/070417.mp3 on the ELCA Web site.

     Information about Luther Memorial Lutheran Church,
Blacksburg, Va., is available at http://www.lmlc.org on the
Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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