Grace Will Lead Us Home

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Do you personally know anyone whose life has been directly affected by gun violence?
2. Before reading this book, what thoughts (if any) have you given to families and communities who have been directly affected by gun violence?
3. How did the Emanuel massacre affect relationships – familial relationships, marriages, relationships with clergy, and friendships?
4. Why do you think the author chose to focus on the strained relationship between sisters Sharon and Nadine?
5. How do you think religion, belief in God, and knowledge of the Bible influenced folks struggling with the aftermath of the shooting?
6. Did Reverend Goff and Reverend Clark rise to the challenge of catering to their congregation after the shooting?
7. After a mass shooting, how should communities, government, and society at large honor the victims that lost their lives?
8. What significance did the removal of the Confederate flag from Capitol grounds have in relation to the massacre?
9. The title of Part II is Looking to Man for Comfort. In what way were the families of the deceased comforted, and in what ways could they have been comforted more?
10. Why do you think Dylann Roof succumbed to law enforcement without much of a struggle?
11. Do you think members of Roof’s family held any responsibility for the murders?
12. How often do you interact on a more personal level with people of a different race, such as by having them over for dinner, getting a beer together, or attending church together? If Roof had known African Americans in this way, would it have affected his views?
13. Has the book changed your attitude toward the use and regulation of firearms in the US?
14. If a loved one of yours was killed in a mass shooting, would you be able to testify publicly, with so much media attention?
15. Would you be able to forgive Dylann Roof if he killed one of your family members?