The show of support from church leaders, including denominations that reject homosexuality and same-sex marriage, raised hopes that the shooting could mark a turning point for acceptance of the gay community in religious circles. “I have been searching my heart: is there anything I did that was complicit in that loss?” said Hunter, senior pastor at Northland, a nondenominational Christian church based in central Florida near Orlando, site of the Sunday morning shooting that also left 53 wounded. history, Reverend Joel Hunter confessed he did not know how to pray for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community targeted in the attack. REUTERS/Jim Young/File PhotoĪt a prayer service soon after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S.
Betty Deas Clark (R), Iman Muhammad Masri (C) and Dan Gross hold a prayer at the vigil site at the Orlando Regional Medical Center for the shooting victims at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, June 15, 2016.
