The date June 14 had multiple layers of meaning for my family this year. June 14 (Flag Day) was my mother’s birthday. Muriel Eva Titus Stewart would have been 110 this year. It was Donald J. Trump’s birthday; it was the day of the military parade celebrating the President’s birthday and the 250th Anniversary of the United States Army.

It was the day a gunman killed Minnesota Speaker of the House emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park), her husband, Mark, in their own home, and critically wounded Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin) and his wife, Yvette, in their home.

A Brooklyn Park Police advisory to secure our property and stay put during the search for the suspect.

Later that day, downtown Minneapolis Interfaith Clergy representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Unitarian-Universalist congregations published the following statement on hate and violence.

Downtown Interfaith Clergy Statement, Jun 14, 2025

We are a multi-faith coalition of clergy representing more than 35,000 Minnesotans from congregations across the city of Minneapolis.

Many of us have had the honor of offering prayers in the chambers of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate. As clergy, we pray for unity, peace, and guidance for our elected officials—public servants working toward the well-being of all Minnesotans.

It is unimaginable that Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and Senator John Hoffman, his wife Yvette, and their daughter were targeted in an act of extreme political violence. We mourn alongside the family of Speaker Emerita Hortman and her husband in their time of inconceivable grief, and we send our prayers for a complete healing of body and spirit to Senator Hoffman, Yvette, and their daughter.

In these deeply troubling times, we stand united against the rising culture of hatred and fear that has been allowed to take root in our communities. Violent words lead to violent actions, and we must not let depravity become the new normal in our world. Together, we will work to counter it wherever we see it.This is a time of great divisiveness in our country. As people of faith, we are called, as the prophet Jeremiah teaches us, to seek “peace in the city, and in the places where we dwell.” (Jeremiah, 29:7) As interfaith religious leaders, we have worked to maintain connections across faiths through thoughtful and respectful dialogue, even when we disagree. Such conversations between people of faith offer a powerful alternative to division and hostility.

Interfaith relationships have brought us closer to our own faith and convictions. This work has opened the door to deeper engagement with our holy texts, our sacred communities, and our relationships with God.
In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” But it does not bend on its own. We must bend it—with courage, conviction, compassion, and action.

God help us to live our lives with moral courage, to strengthen our communities, and to stand together for justice.

Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman, on behalf of the Downtown Interfaith Clergy

Rev. Jeffrey Japinga, Westminster Presbyterian Church; Rev. Dan Adolphson, First Christian Church; Rev. Jullan Stoneberg, First Unitarian Society; Rev. Elizabeth Macaulay, Hennepin Ave United Methodist Church; Pastor Elijah McDavid III, Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church; Rev. Timothy M. Kingsley, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral; Rev. Jen Crow, First Universalist Church; Rev. Peter Nycklemoe, Central Lutheran Church; Makram El-Amin, executive director, Al-Maa’uun; Father Daniel Griffith, Basilica of St. Mary;Father Kevin Kenney, St. Olaf Catholic Church.

Downtown interfaith Clergy statement, Minneapolis, MN, June 14, 2025

Gordon C. Stewart, public theologian, host of Views from the Edge, author of Be Still! Departure from Collective Madness (2017, Wipf and Stock), Brooklyn Park, MN, June 30, 2025.