TOW 20: Pastor Apologizes to His Denomination for Role in Sandy Hook Interfaith Service

After the shocking event that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School, many would reason that families of the victims and the whole community would come together. However, a Lutheran pastor named Rob Morris was heavily criticized for his participation of a joint worship in which he gave the benediction at the large memorial service held after the incident. Rev. Morris apologized for his "false teachings," and explained that his work was not one of worship, but of community service.

This article comes from The New York Times, published by Sharon Otterman.

The article was not too significant in context. Although the apology may seem like a shock, that facilitating a vigil service would deserve such backlash, this article included a sincere apology from Rev. Morris.

The purpose of this article was to tell of an incident in which the people under the Lutheran denomination were offended that Rev. Morris had seemingly gone against his teachings and gave a benediction at a worship with many other religions.

The audience of this article is the general public, however, those under the Lutheran religion may have impacted the most. Reading Rev. Morris's public apology may ease their tensions towards him. In addition, the audience for this article could have been those who were offended by and confused about why Rev. Morris was getting so criticized by his Church, as reasoning is provided; the Lutheran Church does not allow joint worship with other religions because such participation may give off the false impression that they are endorsing a Savior other than Jesus.

This article exudes ethos. In order to let the audience know that the content in this article is credible, many quotes from different sources were used, such as the main pastor from the Lutheran church. It also included direct quotes from Rev. Morris's apology. To gain credibility and show that her content is reliable, Otterman included direct quotations.

The author's purpose was achieved. Otterman summarized the criticism that Rev. Morris received as well as the reasoning behind it. She also included his public apology so that any misunderstandings would be erased.