By Bob Allen
First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City will remember this weekend’s 20th anniversary of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing with music.
The music ministry will present the musical Shelter: Songs of Comfort and Hope by Paul Marino at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 19, the 50th anniversary of the domestic terrorist attack that killed 168 and became a turning point in American history.
“Twenty years have passed, but Oklahoma City residents are frequently reminded of the events of that day as they go about their lives,” said Kim Greer, minister of music at First Baptist Church. “The sadness still lingers.”
The 9 a.m. blast at Fifth and Robinson in downtown Oklahoma City caused more than $150,000 damage to the First Baptist Church seven blocks away, including the loss of eight historic stained-glass windows.
The church became a staging area for firefighters and other emergency personnel in the hours after the explosion. Around 12:30 or 1:00, church workers already gearing up for the Wednesday night meal decided to start making sandwiches for emergency crews. They made more than 1,000 sandwiches and started handing them out while walking up the street.
The church opened its facility to the emergency workers as a site for shift changes, allowing firefighters and other rescue personnel a place to take a shower, drink coffee and refocus. Many of them attended the church’s Wednesday evening prayer service.
The church revamped its regular Sunday worship services April 23 into a time of prayer and sharing Scripture. “I don’t know what is the right thing to do,” said Gene Garrison, the church’s pastor for 23 years before his retirement in 1996. “We do need to be praying for the doctors, nurses, chaplains, counselors and ministers, so that they will know how to deal with these people.”
While not written specifically for the anniversary, Greer and her husband, Director of Creative Worship Arts Bruce Greer, said the 2009 musical created to help people understand and work through hard times seemed relevant to the day.
“As a downtown church, First Baptist was directly affected by the bombing, both in destruction of property and the toll it took on the lives of our members,” said Bruce Greer. “Our city and our country may never fully recover from what happened blocks away 20 years ago, but as this musical reminds us, God is with us, even in the worst of times.”
Former President Bill Clinton will return to Oklahoma City to speak at the 20th Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony sponsored by the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Elected officials in attendance will include Mayor Ron Norick (1987-1998), Gov. Frank Keating (1995-2003), Mayor Mick Cornett (2004-present) and Gov. Mary Fallin (2011-present).
The 8:45-11 a.m. ceremony will include observance of 168 seconds of silence at 9:02 a.m., and recommitment to the Oklahoma Standard, the term visiting rescue workers and journalists used to capture the sense of generosity they witnessed in the wake of the bombing.