DALLAS (ABP) – Nearly five years after it happened, Pastor Al Meredith still remembers vividly the phone call that changed his life and the path of his congregation: “You've got to get down here. Someone's shooting the kids.”
It was the evening of Sept. 15, 1999, when a man walked into a youth prayer service at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and opened fire, killing seven people before pulling the trigger on himself.
Speaking at a prayer breakfast during the recent Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse Conference, Meredith became choked up as he recounted some of the lives that were lost that evening.
He spoke of Sydney Browning, the “most popular” person in the church; Kim Jones, a recently converted Texas Christian University student; and Shawn Brown, a seminary student who was married 22 months.
But God provides hope through the darkest times, the pastor said, and the shooting is no different. Because of the attack, Meredith was able to share the message of hope in Jesus with the world as he offered the invocation at the Cotton Bowl Classic in January 2000.
As the congregation began to deal with the deaths, the church became an example of clinging to faith through tragedy, Meredith said. Members of the youth group spoke to assemblies about their experience and faith, while Meredith spoke at numerous ministers' meetings about crises.
The congregation has felt a stronger presence of God in worship since the incident, according to Meredith. He believes God has blessed the church to help the congregation continue their faith and lives.
“God has given us such a sweet spirit of joy and forgiveness,” Meredith said.
As individuals heard the positive outlook of the church, they became interested in it, Meredith noticed. People traveled from out of town to attend the church. Attendance increased 50 percent in the past four years to 1,500 during Sunday worship.
“People came looking for the church,” the pastor said.
The work and growth of the church since the shooting is a testament to the reliability of the Lord, Meredith added. “God is God all the time,” Meredith said. “He is not under review.”
Despite the hope, pain still runs deep throughout the congregation, Meredith said. He understood post traumatic stress syndrome is “real,” but he now knows it returns in waves, even four years after the shooting. But church members continue believing God will carry them onward.
“Don't ask us when we'll get over it,” he said. “We'll never get over it. We'll get through it.”
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