Breaking News
Religion

Vigil explores emotion surrounding grief

By Josh Yoder 3 min read

LEWISTOWN -- Local churches offered a time of reflection for residents seeking solace in the wake of recent world events.

A Prayer Vigil to End Violence was held May 29 at Rec Park in Lewistown with cooperation from Sacred Heart Catholic Church, First United Methodist Church, Lewistown Presbyterian Church and Grace United Methodist Church.

The event was sponsored by the Lewistown Ministerium and it was a call to prayer for the people affected by the recent shootings that had occurred. The Rev. Randy Hughes of First United Methodist Church of Lewistown led the event and did the opening and closing prayers for the evening.

"I hope as we gather here tonight that it will give an outlet for people to express their emotions across the broad spectrum," Hughes said. "Whether it's anger or fear, always looking to the hope of Jesus Christ so that's what our goal is tonight. Give a place of prayer, a place to express all the things that we are troubled with."

There were also hymns led by Miranda Shoop who is a member of the Lewistown Presbyterian Church.

During the vigil, clergy delivered messages on four different emotions, including fear, sadness, anger and hope.

The first emotion that was discussed was fear which was talked about by Rev. Sarah Sedgwick of Lewistown Presbyterian Church. Her scripture that she read was Matthew 10:26-31.

"We hope that this prayer vigil is an opportunity for folks to feel like they have a place to express their emotions over the tragedies of violence that have been happening in our world and to recognize that God can handle whatever emotion we feel about this circumstance," Sedgwick said. "And that through prayer there is true healing of not only for us, but to those that have been affected directly by the tragedies."

The second emotion that was mentioned was sadness which was preached by Fr. William Weary of Sacred Heart. The scripture was Psalm 88: 1-14.

"I'm sad about the incidents in Buffalo and Texas and all the recent other shootings that have been going on in recent years," Weary said. "But I'm glad that we are coming together in this way and how the members of the community support one another in prayer is so important and to affirm as we will during this ceremony, the various emotions that are at play here of anger, sadness and hope and we hope that this will be a healing moment for all of those involved."

Next was Rev. Stephanie Rupert of Grace United Methodist Church and the emotion that she talked about was anger. The scripture that Rupert read was Amos 5:7-24.

"We pray for those who are grieving this day," Rupert said. "Those who are hurting and sad. Those who are angry and searching for hope and we seek after God for how we can work to make this world more like God's Kingdom."

The last emotion that was discussed was hope, Fr. Peter Rettig, of Sacred Heart, was ending with bringing hope and love of Jesus Christ to many of the people struggling with the tragedies. The scripture he used was Psalm 37: 1-6.

"Hope is what we need to keep moving on whether times seem desperate," Rettig said. "Whenever we are without any visible horizon, hope is the only thing we can have. Christ on the Cross, he was in agony, but he had hope and we had hope in his sacrifice for us. When all else seems defeated, hope is the only thing we will always have."

Starting at /week.