Title: Disciples members among survivors of Denver-area shooting
Date: April 22, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: news@cm.disciples.org
99b-26
LITTLETON, Colo. (DNS) -- Five members of a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation here escaped injury during the April 20 massacre at a local high school. The carnage at Columbine High School left 15 persons dead; 12 students, one teacher and the two gunmen, who committed suicide.
Four of the surviving students and a teacher are members of South Suburban Christian Church, here. The church is approximately seven miles east of Columbine High School, according to the Rev. H. Deral Schrom, senior minister.
"Everything began to happen around 11:30 (a.m.)," Schrom said. "As we became aware of it, we were concerned about some of the families in our own congregation." Word began to "trickle in over the course of the afternoon" after church officials made several calls to inquire about members' safety.
Schrom said music teacher Leland Andres "really did a tremendous job in keeping a number of students safe." While the gunmen were on the rampage, Andres locked several students in an assembly room and instructed them to get on the floor, to stay calm and to pray.
"They were in there for about 15 minutes," said Schrom. "After the shooters passed that area, a custodian was able to come by and let them out."
Also escaping injury was Andres' son, who teaches at Columbine High School. He is not a member of South Suburban Church.
The congregation held an impromptu prayer service that evening (April 20). "There were people who just needed to be here," said Schrom. South Suburban held a more formal service April 21 for families whose students were affected by the tragedy. "We want to offer our love and support to them," he said.
The service was to include the reading of several electronic mail messages received by the congregation. "We got a stack of e-mail from across the country," Schrom added. A communion service and candle lighting ceremony also were held to honor slain students and faculty and survivors.
Sunday's worship theme also will change, according to the pastor. The church's choir will sing a song composed to commemorate the Oklahoma City bombing "plus what we've just gone through."
Besides the liturgical observances, the congregation will offer its counseling center to help persons deal with grief resulting from the catastrophe. "Our counselor has already said that she's available for students in need of any help," Schrom indicated.
The church's young adult or "GenX" group provided invaluable assistance on the day of the disaster to emergency personnel gathered at Leawood Elementary School. The group took pizza to workers staffing a hastily arranged communications center at the school. "They also provided care and support for those folks," said Schrom.
Schrom also offered thanks for prayers of support for South Suburban Church. "We know that we are supported and lifted up in prayer," he said. "We hope those prayers continue. The healing is going to take a long time."
In fact, prayers will be needed over the next few months, for the students especially, and the faculty at Columbine High School. "Their innocence was just stripped away yesterday," Schrom said. "This is the kind of situation that people say always happens somewhere else. That naivete was taken away yesterday."
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