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Pastor Rob Morris of Newtown's Christ the King Lutheran Church provided the closing benediction at an interfaith event following the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 16.
Published at 6:33 a.m. ET: A Connecticut Lutheran pastor has apologized for participating in an interfaith prayer vigil for the 26 children and adults killed at a Newtown elementary school in December because his church bars its clergy from worshipping with other faiths.
The December prayer vigil was attended by President Barack Obama, leaders from Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, and relatives of the 20 first graders who were gunned down in their classrooms two days earlier after a gunman entered their school.
The Dec. 14 shooting shook the nation and led to calls for improved school security, gun control and better mental health care.
Watch the entire interfaith vigil for Connecticut shooting victims, including President Obama's speech. Pastor Rob Morris gives the closing benediction, beginning 73 minutes, 10 seconds into the video.
The pastor, Rob Morris of Newtown's Christ the King Lutheran Church, provided the closing benediction at the interfaith event on Dec. 16.
Earlier this month, the president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Pastor Matthew Harrison, wrote a letter to church members saying he had requested an apology from Morris for his participation in "joint worship with other religions."
"There is sometimes a real tension between wanting to bear witness to Christ and at the same time avoiding situations which may give the impression that our differences with respect to who God is, who Jesus is, how he deals with us, and how we get to heaven, really don't matter in the end," Harrison wrote.
"There will be times in this crazy world when, for what we believe are all the right reasons, we may step over the scriptural line," he wrote.
Harrison said he had accepted Morris' apology.
This is not the first time a Lutheran leader has been chastised for participating in a community service in the wake of a local tragedy.
'False teaching'
David Benke, a Lutheran pastor in New York, was suspended for praying at an interfaith vigil in 2001, 12 days after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Benke, who had refused to apologize for the incident, was reinstated in 2003.
In his own letter to his church, Morris wrote that it was not his intent to endorse "false teaching" and apologized to those who believed he had.
"I did not believe my participation to be an act of joint worship, but one of mercy and care to a community shocked and grieving an unspeakably horrific event," he wrote. "I apologize where I have caused offense by pushing Christian freedom too far, and I request you charitably receive my apology."
Related:
Full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting from NBC News
Fierce debate after Newtown school shootings: Where was God?
People of Newtown pray and grieve together
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Leave a Comment:
LeX Luther would be proud.
On the surface this looks like a non-event… but in reading the whole article, especially the last lines, it left me breathless… the Lutherans, of all people- they are acting like the Muslims, without the guns… yet.
Missouri Synod Lutherans are to Lutherans as Islamist extremists are to Islam. Please don't paint all Lutherans with the same bigoted brush as the Misery Synodians.
The ELCA has merged in an agreement with another church. It may surprise many of this to learn which one and many of their liberal life social issues. Look into which one. Something the MS would never do for it would be EVIL. So the ELCA is really bigger than one realizes it is. Time to start asking questions of Lutherans.
Every Sunday, every Lutheran at church says the apostles creed....The Lutheran version says...
"I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church..."
The "catholic" in lower case means the entire Christian church. That is to say the entire Christian family.
If you ask me, this pastor has nothing for which to apologize.
Note that Pastor Harrison is president of the Missouri Synod, not the entire Lutheran Church. This is not the same church attended by the Norwegian farmers in Lake Wobegon nor the ones leading the way in offering support services to the poor. Sadly, they are apparently the same close minded bigots I remember from attending their churches and schools as a youth.
Please don't judge all Christians or even all Lutherans on the actions of a few. This pastor belongs to the conservative Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, which has very different teachings than the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
On the ELCA home page it says: We are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God's grace. Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person —questions, complexities and all. Join us as we do God's work inChrist's name for the life of the world.
.... as though Lutherans had it all right
Please don't confuse Lutheran Church Missouri Synod with Evangelical Lutheran Church. The LCMS are extreme and very closed off. ELC are open and giving and loving, similar to Episcopalians - two very, very different views. All Lutherans are not the same. This is a typical example of what the LCMS do and don't allow.
And people wonder why the world is messed up--! Religion continues to foster or directly cause more wars and dissension than any other factor. Hypocrisy such as in this instance shows that Christianity, for instance, is not universal in its "interpretation." How divisive does it get??!!
I find it impossible to have faith in some very questionable, other-worldly mind fantasy such as a supposedly-resurrected dead man or his father customarily worshipped as "God." I prefer to base my spirituality in the Earth, much as the Native Americans did and still do. You can't argue with the existence of the elements--air, fire, and water and the Earth on which we live. They are real and they influence our lives every minute, sometimes with wonderful, positive results, and other times, we are reminded of their power and ability to destroy lives, too.
Long live our Constitutional right to Freedom of--and from--religion!
Oh, Great! A tragedy made worse by religiious morons.
Short but to the point -- well said!!!
Beyond stupid.
"You're not allowed to talk to the same imaginary friend that I talk to."
Glad more people are waking up to the scam that is religion.
Pastor Morris, you are to be commended for leading your parishioners and all those in mourning in their time of grief for this horrendous tragedy that occurred in your community. You did nothing wrong and we know it. As children of God it is our duty to minister to all in need, not just those who hold a LCMS card. Pastor Matthew Harrison, on the other hand, has shown his true colors. As a Lutheran myself, I will pray for continued clarity and that our Lutheran community may soon right the wrong of having such a man in his role of leadership.
This was no "apology" but a monstrous insult to the families and victims of a horrific tragedy. The Lutheran church now owes a real apology to these people and to all caring Americans who were so deeply affected.
Sadly, I knew it had to be the Misery Synod involved. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has no such restriction on participation in interfaith services. I do wish nbcnews.com would have drawn the distinction.
So true. I am ELCA Lutheran. The distinction needs to be made between all of us.
Where's the apology from the parents of the dead Lutheran kids who attended this pagan rite?
Don't they have to be ashamed of praying for their child with the garbage?
I suggest the Lutherans join with the Westboro Baptist Church, they would fit right in.
This is Lutheran Lunacy! Stop the madness!!!
oh yes, please, let's avoid "the impression that our differences ... and how we get to heaven... don't really matter in the end". MAINTAIN APPEARANCES AND AVOID UNITY AT ALL COSTS!!!
I am appalled at the Lutheran Church. This minister was providing comfort to his community, ministering to those that most needed it. I am sure God was pleased by his actions an isn't that most important?
Please remember this isn't all Lutherans. This is the Missouri Synod Lutheran. I am ELCA and we would NEVER do this to anyone else's belief's. Our Churchwide Bishop I am sure would have done the benediction without one backlash from our church. The ELCA has a true Christian heart with "loving others as Jesus has loved us". Please don't let one denomination taint the good that ELCA lutheran's do. Our ELCA Lutheran World Relief was there to provide counseling services in this community and we provided disaster relief to the region struck by Hurricane Sandy. We do a lot of good. It isn't all of us.
Thank you for the clarification. Too often a few bad apples gives the whole bunch a bad rep.
Nuts...
We are witnessing the "Great falling away" of the "Church" with good reason. It seems to me that Churches and Religious groups today preach more Hatred and Bigotry than ever before...or maybe the general public has started actually listening to the sermons and doctrine. Organized religion has always prayed upon peoples fear and hatred. Organized Religion is a Business period. Tax them.
I am an Evangelical Lutheran all my 62 years. I was taught that Christ said that a church is "two or more gathered in My name". Pastor Morris is my type of Pastor, my type of leader. As an Evangelical, I guess I take a rather conservative view of the New Testament, BUT to chastise the Reverend Morris is beyond ridiculous, it's UNchristian. Spread the Word in Christ's manner....period.
Religion. A bigger evil in this world than guns.
Atheism seems the only moral choice.
Maybe so. I was raised by my foster "parents" in a Christian church. Never was there a bigger bunch of hypocrites. They'd grin in your face while slipping a knife between your ribs. They were constantly badmouthing each other behind their backs, but kissing a$$ to their faces. They'd sneak out with each other's spouse during the week, then sit in judgement of each other on Sunday. In the early years of my first marriage, the preacher, who insisted on being called "Bill" was caught by my foster father screwing my wife. It is not necessary to belong to a religious cult to have good moral standards, and belonging to a church is not synonymous with good morality. But sometimes it helps a businessman create the image of being "honest" and forthright.
I would argue that there are "denominations" of atheists, too, and not all of them believe in morals. I've got a relative who is an atheist who believes that there is no right or wrong--murder, infidelity, whatever, he doesn't believe there is anything that is actually "bad," only results that certain people believe are bad for their lives. I know many lovely atheists who would not agree with such a view.
But that's the point: you can't say that any one belief system has a handle on morality.
What they all have in common is that they are made up of humans...and humans make some pretty bad decisions on a daily basis, regardless of whether or not they believe in a god.
No surprises in this story. I attended a Lutheran school/church from 1st grade - 8th grade back in the 1970s in Flint, MI. Students, teachers, pastors and vicars alike preached tolerance and that "...we are all God's children." If I had a card for everytime I was called by a racial epithet in that school by teachers and students alike, I would have a stack of race cards from floor to ceiling. Lutherans are hypocritical, bigoted, hateful, and narrow-minded. They are the kind of people who dislike Muslims because they worship "Allah", not understanding that "God" and "Allah" are one in the same, just different names (like house vs casa in english vs spanish). Over my 8 years in that place, only a handful of other students of races other than white attended. NONE of them lasted more than one year due to the hatred/bigotry.
It's about money, power, and control over their "flock" (but then, I repeat myself). If the dirtbags at the top of the hierarchy don't intimidate people into believing they'll go to "Hell" if they hang out with other Christians, the people might leave their "flock", which they fleece regularly. "Let us prey".