This is a short excerpt from my dear (and brilliant) friend, Al Tizon (you can find him at Word and Deed or on FB at Evangelicals for Social Action):

What is the role of the church in the face of national crisis in general and the recent Tucson
shootings in particular? The answer is multi-dimensional, but it always includes offering hope to a traumatized nation by way of prayers, sermons, and honoring those whose lives were lost. Churches around the state of Arizona did just that in their Sunday services after the rampage. And not just in Arizona, but around the nation. Churches in Houston, for example, united for a day of mourning the dead, praying for those who were still fighting for their lives and for the health of the nation. Along these lines, an article appeared in the Yakima Herald that aptly remembers a sermon-speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the wake of the senseless deaths of four young black girls as a result of a church bombing. In the face of yet another national tragedy, the words of Dr. King—"God still has a way of wringing good out of evil"—defines the church’s message to the hurting, the injured, the needy, and the poor.