Joel,

Yesterday,  I shared a sermon I’d preached at Stahl Mennonite Church in Johnstown, PA, immediately after the Pulse shooting in Orlando around this time last year. At the center of that sermon is the image of participants in Angel Action, a strategy for opposing anti-LGBTQ hate that was created in the wake of Westboro Baptist Church’s picket of Matthew Shepard’s funeral. Participants dress as angels, wearing huge wings made of sheets and PVC pipe, and stand between grieving families and protestors. Though participants are not necessarily religious, they are performing an act of love that Christians are called to do: to protect the vulnerable. In Orlando, this response was organized by the theater community.

Shortly before 2 am on the anniversary of the mass shooting, more people in Orlando stepped forward as part of Angel Action, surrounding those who had come to a private service at Pulse to honor their loved ones, with their wings again.

At a time when Christians are probably the primary reason people become atheists, we could decide to learn from angels like these. Will we be gatekeepers who keep people out, or will we be lamplighters who guide people in? What do we lose when we fail to entertain angels?

Above, participants in Orlando’s Angel Action. Photo from the Orlando Sentinel.