Faith Community Providing Mental Health Support Amid Texas School Shooting

The faith community is coming together to respond to the horrifying Texas school shooting on Tuesday, when up to 21 lives were taken by an active shooter at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Twenty-four hours later, parents are still trying to locate their children, as forensics had to resort to DNA testing to identify the remains of the children who lost their lives that day.

"My heart is broken today. We're a small community and we're going to need your prayers to get through this," Uvalde Superintendent Hal Harrell commented, as per CBN News. School activities in Robb Elementary have been canceled until further notice.

Uvalde, Texas is a town that is home to about 16,000 people and is located 85 miles west of San Antonio. The Texas school shooting on Tuesday was the second-deadliest one in the history of America and comes almost 10 years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The Sandy Hook attack took the lives of up to 28 people and left two wounded.

In response to the tragic events in Texas this week, church leaders urged the faith community to come together in prayer for the victims and the families they left behind.

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Church Groups Mobilize to Provide Support for Texas School Shooting Victims

Following the tragic Texas school shooting, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has deployed ministers to South Texas to offer support for the grief-stricken community. SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick on Tuesday evening took to Twitter to urge people to "stop and pray for those in Uvalde, Texas." He reported that they had been "in touch with SBTC pastors on the ground" as the community "needs our prayers."

The Baptist Press reported that SBTC Associate Executive Director Tony Wolfe offered three ways for the faithful to pray for the families of the victims of the Texas school shooting. First, he urged people to pray to God that He would "heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds." Wolfe said that in prayer, the faithful must recognize, "The tragedy is unspeakable. The pain is unbearable. God, have mercy."

Secondly, Wolfe urged people to pray for the "emotional and physical endurance for first responders and crisis volunteers on the ground," and finally, pray for the "heavenly wisdom among local, state, and national policymakers." He urged people and asked God to help them "do better for our children."

A prayer service was also scheduled by the First Presbyterian Church in Uvalde on Wednesday night at 6:30 pm Central Time tonight at the church located at 300 N. Getty Street. The prayer night was also live-streamed on their Facebook page.

Communities Come Together to Support Uvalde

Chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) have been sent to Uvalde to "comfort people, listen and cry with them, pray with them and share God's love with those who have been impacted by this horrific tragedy," the group's international director, Josh Holland announced.

Meanwhile, the Texas Baptist Men have also sent chaplains to serve the Uvalde community. TBV executive director and CEO Mickey Lenamon sad that while all of them are grieving with the community, the champlains will "help people share and work through their emotions in the wake of the shooting."

Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, which is located right across Robb Elementary School, where the Texas school shooting took place, announced on Facebook on Tuesday evening that it would provide cost-free funerals for the families of the victims.