Megachurch Moves Forward After Shootings
Pastor Dale Morgan
Megachurch Moves Forward After Shootings*
Monday December 17, 2007 3:31 AM
By ROBERT WELLER
Associated Press Writer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The leader of a megachurch where a gunman
opened fire a week earlier, killing two teenage sisters and wounding
three other people, said Sunday that the congregation's trials of the
past couple of years were nothing more than tests.
``Last weekend was a test ... but we are passing the test,'' said the
Rev. Brady Boyd, New Life Church senior pastor, on a bright, sunny day
when snow-capped Pikes Peak could be seen from the church grounds.
Another test came a year ago, Boyd said, when founder the Rev. Ted
Haggard was dismissed after a former male escort claimed Haggard paid
him over three years for sex. Haggard publicly admitted committing
unspecified ``sexual immorality.''
``This is not what this church will be known for,'' Boyd said.
``Our heart is to be a church that gives to people,'' he said. ``We are
a group that cares for people, any person.''
That was written on the faces of members of a mostly smiling crowd who
sang, clapped and waved as they watched the stage or several
large-screen televisions simulcasting the service above them. Some
cried. Dozens accepted a call to come to the front if they needed help
to deal with the pain.
``All it has done is strengthen us,'' Boyd said at the service, attended
by at least 4,000 adults.
Reacting to the shooting and the service, Josh Caldwell, 17, said:
``It's definitely been really rough. But seeing the church continue to
grow is an incredible experience. And seeing God move among us.''
Boyd said the church's struggles could be compared to those faced by
early Christians. ``In times like this our theology is simple. ... We
believe in Christ,'' he said.
Photographs of victims Stephanie Works, 18, and her sister Rachael, 16,
adorned the program for services Sunday.
The two were killed when gunman Matthew Murray, armed with an assault
rifle, a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun and a 9 mm semiautomatic
handgun, opened fire in the parking lot as a service was letting out.
The girls' father and two other people were wounded.
A volunteer security guard shot and wounded Murray, 24, before he turned
the gun on himself. Twelve hours earlier and about 65 miles away, police
said, Murray killed two staff members of the Youth With a Mission
missionary training center in Arvada and wounded two others.
A funeral was held Saturday in Minnesota for one of the Arvada victims,
26-year-old Tiffany Johnson. A memorial service was held earlier in the
week in Colorado.
A private service was held Friday in Denver for Murray. A service will
be held for the Works sisters Wednesday at New Life.