On Monday April 12 at 3:15, another young person was shot and killed, this time inside a bathroom at Austin-East High School. That makes 5 Black children in East Knoxville killed by guns just since January. We are grieving when we ask the question: “how are the children” because the answer is the children…all of our children are not well. The weeping Rachel of Jeremiah 31 is one of the most powerful images in Scripture. Where believers grieve, Rachel stands ready to lament with them. But it is not enough to be sad or to be moved or feel bad. This is a call for repentance and for action…all the children of our city are not well.
The Rev. Leah Burns, our guest preacher this Sunday, is pastor of Lennon-Seney United Methodist Church on Dandridge Avenue. Prior to this she has served three other United Methodist congregations and had a pre-ministry career in executive level positions in both non-profit and corporate sectors. She is a graduate of Beloit College with an international relations major and minors in Spanish and French. The Rev. Ms. Burns describes herself as a faith-rooted activist who seeks to bring people from disparate backgrounds together to foster new relationships.
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