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June 15, 2016

In Response to the Murders at the Orlando Nightclub, June 12, 2016

The administrators, faculty and staff of Roberts Wesleyan College and Northeastern Seminary are deeply grieved over the senseless violence and mass murder at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL on Sunday, June 12.  We mourn with the thousands who mourn and offer our sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this atrocious crime.

Even in this dark time; perhaps especially in this dark time, we affirm God’s love of all of people and call on His Spirit to enable us to respond in repentance and faith. We affirm our Christian scriptures and tradition, which teach us that there is no allowance for hate; no permissible targeting or oppression of others. Today, along with other Christians, we lament the ugly, hateful terrorism, embedded in human hearts, which continues to erupt in our society, and the painful brokenness between groups of people, which has once again become clear through social media, public proclamations and strident judgements. It is a shameful reality that once again we have witnessed living expressions of the myth of the superiority of one people group over another.

So we recognize a need to confess—our complicity in difficult issues by not being sufficiently engaged and aware of people’s pain, of being insensitive to patterns of injustice and oppression and of being ignorant of the hatred that brews in our neighborhoods - fueled by arrogance, evil desires and glorified violence.

We implore God’s grace and healing for the victims and their families, and God’s restoration of hearts and minds to enable us all to live within a perspective that sees and treats all people according to their true worth as persons created in the image of God.

In His infinite love, God has provided redemption and grace through the Son, Jesus Christ. In the Kingdom opened by Christ and in Christ, we are guided by a Hope that shines bright.  May it shine brighter in these dark days and may His love be true in us, through our words and actions as we lament, confess and implore God’s mercy on us all.

Dr. Deana L. Porterfield, President Roberts Wesleyan College and Northeastern Seminary

Dr. Douglas R. Cullum, Vice President and Dean, Northeastern Seminary

June 15, 2016


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