Members of the community and interfaith leaders gathered in midtown Manhattan at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church on Monday, August 5, to grieve the tragedy that took place one week prior and just yards away at 345 Park Avenue.
The prayer service was led by The Reverend Peter Thompson, the Vicar and Interim Rector at St. Bartholomew’s Church. He was joined by interfaith leaders from throughout the city, The Reverend Canon Stephanie Spellers; The Reverend Jared Stahler; Imam Mehmet Ozalp; The Very Reverend Enrique Salvo; Rabbi Hilly Haber; and The Reverend Zack Nyein.
The centerpiece of the service and beginning of the ceremonies was the memorial candle lighting. Four candles were lit in remembrance of the four lives lost on July 28. Their names were: Aland Etienne, Julia Hyman, Detective First Grade Didarul Islam, and Wesley LePatner.
The light of those candles remained throughout the service, and the interfaith leaders referred back to them during their remarks to note their symbolism – a tragic loss of life.
Imam Mehmet Ozalp, the Staff Chaplain for Maimonides Medical Center, remarked, “We hold their names in the sanctity of our hearts. Lighting candles not only with our hands, but with our prayers. The Quran teaches us that whoever takes a life unjustly it is as though they have taken the life of all humanity, and whoever saves a life it is as though they have saved all of humanity. What happened was not just a tragedy for one family or one city. It was a wound upon us all.”
Father Enrique Salvo, Rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, spoke on behalf of the archdiocese to bring the Catholic community together through this dark chapter. He began his message with the Gospel of John 14:1-3: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if there were not, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you there myself. So that where I am so also you may be.”
Father Salvo continued with this message to the congregation, “God knows that it is very difficult for our hearts to not be troubled in these times of tragedy especially when we see senseless tragedy here in our city with these beautiful people’s lives being taken away… God wants us to give us this promise to know that it’s also not the end… Love continues in all of our hearts, and today we are praying for that.”
Along with faith leaders, members of New York’s City Council and State Senate had a moment to speak. The Honorable Liz Krueger took this opportunity to call for stricter gun legislation with a federal assault weapon ban to attempt to avoid what she referred to as a “senseless and unexplainable” tragedy.
The service concluded with attendees singing “This Little Light of Mine” to signify that, even though these four people are gone, their light will shine on through this community. The Senior Associate Rector of St. Bartholomew’s, Reverend Zack Nyein, led the song as a means to join together in joyous prayer and say farewell to those lost on their journey to the afterlife.
The Good Newsroom had a chance to speak with attendees after the service, who saw the gathering as a way to show the strength of the midtown community and its willingness to help those suffering through this tragedy.
“I think Christ calls us to community… I don’t know of anything more important than coming together because Christ institutes that. He commands us to be together. So, I think this is the right thing to do in this circumstance and all circumstances,” said Manny Rodriguez-Leach, a parishioner at St. Bartholomew’s.
In speaking with a Warden of the Vestry for St. Bartholomew’s, Miriam Schneider, she said of the parish: “It’s the kind of space where we can bring people together to share emotions, loss, and joy, grief, and gladness. I think this was a service that epitomized all of those emotions. Joy in the lives of the people, and grief in the loss of those lives.”
During an interview after the service, Father Enrique Salvo spoke on the importance of coming together as an interfaith community amid tragedy, “It’s so important to come together during these times because in the end we have to remember that we’re all children of God under God and today is proof that we all mourn together in tragedies in the same way that we rejoice when good things happen. These prayer services remind us that we must always pray. In the end, we’re praying for God to bless us all according to his will.”
Watch the service here.