EPISODE TITLE: S1 E4 | Religious Response to a Violent World, Part 1

 

Our Panelists:

 

Pastor Tim Holdridge, Cheri Wellman

 

 

Religious Response to a Violent World, Part 1

 

* What is the role of a Christian pastor or Christian minister in the community?

 

* What does a given week look like for someone who works as a clergyman?

 

* When news of a local tragedy breaks, as clergy, what are your first steps? How does this change if you’re not local to the situation?

 

* When it comes to violence in our world, do you believe clergy bear the responsibility to stop the lectionary or planned sermon and, instead, preach on a topic of national or local importance?

 

* There is a constant push/pull debate about the will of God, and what God allows vs. what He desires. What does Judaism/Islam/your denomination believe about tragedy and God’s role in it?

* How does your answer to this question inform how you comfort the survivors of tragedy? Does everything happen for a reason? Did God “allow” this school shooting or that train crash? How is faith in God maintained in these situations?

 

* When counseling after a tragedy, how much thought is given to psychological healing vs. the temptation to proselytize/convert?