In the wake of the school shooting in Florida, Los Angeles Area Resident Bishop Grant J. Hagiya states:

I have been in touch with Florida Area Resident Bishop Ken Carter, and his Assistant to the Bishop, Rev. Alex Shanks, who previously served the United Methodist Church closest to the school. Rev. Alex commented that he has seen many Facebook posts of his former young people on the tragedy. Let us keep this school, church and community in our prayers.

Today, Bishop Carter, who is also the incoming President of the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church, represented the Council in issuing a statement of grief, mourning the victims of the shootings and called for prayers of repentance from the culture of death and cycle of violence.  The statement is as follows:

On this Ash Wednesday, our services announced the biblical imperative to “repent and believe the gospel.”  In light of today’s shootings, we repent from our participation in a culture of death, we acknowledge the harm we do to others, and we claim the power of the cross that breaks the cycle of violence and retaliation.  We also grieve with the communities of Parkland and Coral Springs, Florida, in the deaths of seventeen persons and the wounding of many others on the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. A number of surrounding United Methodist Churches have students at this school, and our connection will support their healing ministry in the days ahead.