A Prayer Vigil is scheduled for Thursday night at 7PM at the Ford Memorial United Methodist Church on behalf of victims’ families and the Jewish community in Pittsburgh. The public is invited to attend.
A prayer vigil has been scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, at 7PM at Ford Memorial United Methodist Church in Ford City.
Church Pastor Brenda Schall said the desire was born among several ministers in the Ford City area to meet to pray for those affected by the tragedy last Saturday at the Tree of Life Jewish Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. Eleven persons died in the shooting rampage.
“I got a text from Pastor Jack (Delp) in Manorville wanting to know what I thought about the idea (of holding a prayer vigil). I told him it was good, and he wanted to know if we could use our church. He has been contacting all the pastors of the Ministerium to see who wanted to be part of it. I have everything set up at Ford Memorial. We will all take turns, the pastors who want to participate, (in the service). It’s a collaboration.”
Schall said she has had parishioners who have privately discussed with her their concerns about coming into a public church setting since active shooter events of the past several years in churches in several states. The tragedy in Pittsburgh brought the realization closer to home for those of us in Armstrong County.
“We no longer feel safe in church. I have had several people who have come and spoke to me, and people are afraid. They are afraid to be out in public anymore. It’s a shame. There shouldn’t be such fear. “
Schall said there is discussion on active shooter contingencies in her church leadership.
“In Manorville (United Methodist), we have because we have already had our board meeting. I attended an active shooter conference through the United Methodist Church and we are going to take this (subject) up at Ford Memorial at our board meeting.”
“The sad thing is that anyone that can do something like this has to be very sick in their soul as well as in their mind,” she added. “You cannot be of your right mind and do something like this.”
Schall said the Order of Service will focus mainly on prayer.
“It will be prayer mostly and some music. We will have candles lit in honor of each victim.”
Synagogue victims included: Joyce Fienberg, 75; Richard Gottfried, 65; Rose Mallinger, 97; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; Cecil Rosenthal, 59, and his brother David Rosenthal, 54; Bernice Simon, 84; Sylvan Simon, 86; Daniel Stein, 71; Melvin Wax, 88; and Irving Younger, 69.
Schall said the prayer vigil is not only for the families of victims, but also for the Jewish community at large.
“We are standing with the Jewish community and any church community, even our own churches. We need to be praying for all of our churches, because there isn’t much else we can do. There are some precautions that we can take. People are in need of a lot of prayer. We have taken prayer out of schools. We have taken prayer out of so many places. We need to become more active and put prayer back in.”
The public is invited to attend the prayer vigil. For more information, contact Pastor Schall at the church: 724-763-1540. The church is handicapped accessible.