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Church offers help in wake of tragedy

Apr 16, 2013
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The United Methodist Church offers resources to help those seeking consolation following the bombings at the Boston Marathon. A UMNS photo illustration by Mike DuBose.

4:00 P.M. ET April 16, 2013 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

We can never know why or where tragedy will strike, but The United Methodist Church offers resources to help those seeking consolation following the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

UMC.org has a page devoted to "Responding to Violence" with links to news coverage and resources on coping with grief in the wake of violence and tragedy.

Resources include:

  • News articles from UMNS and other sources
  • Articles on how to deal with trauma, including how talk with children about the events in Boston
  • Hymn suggestions, liturgies, calls to worship about coping with a terrorist event.
  • Blog posts
  • Rethink Church, an initiative of United Methodist Communications, is preparing an ad dealing with the tragedy. See rethinkchurch.org or www.facebook.com/umcrethinkchurch for further updates.

New England area Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar shared a schedule of services in the Boston area and invited anyone to attend. "Tonight and in the coming days, many of our churches and other places in the area are opening their sanctuaries and offering services where we can gather together, with our sighs and prayers too deep for words, to seek comfort, healing, and hope. ...all in the community are welcome, regardless of religious affiliations or beliefs."

Numerous worship and crisis resources are available from the United Methodist Board of Discipleship to help congregations deal with the aftermath following the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Links to news and resources will continue to be updated in the coming days. For the latest, please visit the "Responding to Violence" page

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