Metropolitan Community Church plans Tuesday night service to remember Orlando victims

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - The Metropolitan Community Church shares reaction to Orlando Shooting as they held an interfaith service Sunday night and are planning another service for Tuesday, June 14th at 6 p.m.

Reverend Kathy Carpenter and Kathy Fisher, a parishioner shared their thoughts on how the southwest Virginia community is responding to the deadly shooting.

"Talk to each other, reach out and try to learn from each other and learn to respect each other. I think as a straight ally I would encourage people to stand with our LGBT brother and sisters. It's really important that we speak out when we come to events where we can support them," said Reverend Carpenter.

"If you spend any time on social media you get a whole range of experience with peoples reactions and sometimes that's pretty negative. I'm pretty dismayed at our so-called Christian leaders who are more extreme and more to the right who are saying 'well this is God's punishment' which is just absolutely ludicrous. If I believe that then I have to believe that erectile dysfunction was given to people who should have never had sex. It's like the same type of bizarre thinking," said Fisher.

Both women attended the service Sunday night.

"It was very moving for me. They were people we didn't know, people from the community who came to share their stories, one mother who son is gay was just weeping throughout the service and shared with us that she was thinking about all the mothers in Orlando who are waiting to hear about their children and how they must be feeling," said Reverend Carpenter.