October 2, 2026
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – Kentucky Baptist leaders say the hope and healing that the world needs come from only one place – the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Monday’s mass shooting at the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville took six lives, including the gunman, injured eight more and sent heartbreak and shock throughout the commonwealth.
Darkness took over the state on Monday morning with a senseless act of violence from a flawed man. While gun laws will be debated, the only hope comes in the gospel.
“Genesis 3 in the Bible tells the story of the fall of man into sin,” said Todd Gray, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. “The manifestation of sin continues to ravage our land today as most recently seen in the mass shooting here in Louisville, Kentucky.
“We grieve with all the families who were impacted by this senseless violence, we pray for the recovery of those who were injured, and we are grateful for the first responders who put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of others.”
Gray was implicit in saying where the answer to the darkness and sin of man stands.
“I call upon my fellow Kentucky Baptists to work and pray more earnestly than ever before that we would deliver the solution to the sin problem of the human heart – the gospel,” he said. “May God strengthen the families affected and may God help us to bring hope and healing through Jesus Christ.”
Dr. Timothy Paul Jones from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary offered similar thoughts.
“Our city is suffering, and our suffering would be hopeless if we placed all our hope in this life. But ‘we have no lasting city here,’ in the words of Hebrews, and our hope is in the city that is yet to come (Hebrews 13:14–15),” Jones said. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek justice and an end to violence here and now,” he said. “Ultimately, our hope here and now is grounded in the gospel. Through the empty tomb, Jesus revealed his triumph over sin and suffering, evil and death. Through the cross, he took the punishment for our sin and, in the words of Isaiah, “he took up our pain and bore our suffering” (Isaiah 53:4). That’s what Christianity offers that no other religion ever will or ever can. God in Christ entered into our suffering and triumphed over it.”
At West Broadway Baptist Church, Pastor Tim Beougher said he has not heard from the church family of anyone with personal connections to those killed or injured in the shooting. But he said the tragedy re-enforces the mission of the church.
“We’ll weep with those who weep,” he said. “And at our prayer meeting Wednesday night we will be praying for the families affected and everyone who has been touched by this tragedy. We are asking the Lord to bring His comfort as only He can, and we’ll pray Gen. 50:20: You planned evil against me; God planned it for good…”
Beougher, also a long-time professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the tragedy reminds believers of the urgency of the gospel. “We proclaim the gospel as our only hope. This reminds us of the urgency of that — that we live in a broken, fallen world, and our only hope is the gospel. This is a reminder of the brevity of life, and to make sure that life counts for eternity.”
Beougher noted a tragedy such as this serves as a reminder for church security teams to meet and evaluate their situations.
During an appearance Monday on KET’s Kentucky Tonight, David Walls, executive director of the Family Foundation of Kentucky, said the shooting in Louisville and, earlier, in Nashville, Tenn., are reminders of the brokenness of society.
“I’m not as convinced that there’s a policy position on a particular gun-related law that’s really going to solve this problem. I think it’s much deeper than that. I think it’s spiritual in nature,” Walls said. “My heart and call would just be for revival in our communities, in our churches. The brokenness in our families and in our homes, I think, is really undergirding this culture of violence that I do think we are seeing.”
Share with others
