Mass shootings are leaving an overwhelming shadow of grief for families who lost loved ones, as well as communities hundreds of miles away.
A group of interfaith ministers in Owensboro is sponsoring a 'grief service' on Aug. 9 to help people manage the troubling emotions that come with the feeling that no place is safe.
The Owensboro-Daviess County Ministerial Association is sponsoring the 'grief service' as a way for people to come together for mutual support and to connect with local organizations so they can channel their energy into community projects.
Claudia Ramisch is president of the ministerial association and minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Owensboro.
“What we’re hoping to do is help people identify the grief that they have, the emotions that they have, the anger that they feel that no place I safe, and trying to bargain our way out of things, ‘Oh, it could never happen here, we’re all fine.’ Then we find out friends and neighbors in other places aren’t fine,” said Ramisch.
The service is especially to deal with grief from four recent shootings:
The July 28 shooting at the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California that left three dead.
The July 30 shooting at the Walmart in Southaven, Mississippi when a disgruntled employee shot to death to two coworkers.
The Aug. 3 massacre at the Walmart in El Paso, Texas that killed 22 people.
The Aug. 4 shooting in Dayton, Ohio that left nine dead.
Ramisch said several local groups are expected to take part and offer ways for people to become engaged in their community, ranging from working with neighborhood organizations working to reduce violence to offering assistance to the immigrant community throughthe International Center of Kentucky.
“It is not just a thoughts and prayers thing," Ramisch said. "The actual service is about grieving, and now what do we do to make our community safer and healthier?"
Ramisch said connecting with local organizations offers a way for people to channel the need to “do something” as a response to the loss of so many innocent lives.
The “Gathering of Grief and Resolve” is at 7 p.m. on Aug. 9 at Legion Park in Owensboro.
