A Texan church where 26 people were killed when a gunman opened fire 18 months ago has opened the doors of its new sanctuary.
The First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs – where on 5th November, 2017, a gunman opened fire, killing 26 people including eight children and an unborn child – held the first service in its new, $3 million worship building on Sunday. The new building, which is significantly larger than the previous building, was reportedly funded by the North American Mission Board on behalf of Southern Baptists.
Survivors of the shooting, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Senator John Cornyn were among those who attended the service at the new building, which is located next to the church where the shooting took place and is now a memorial.
During the service, the church bell – which had been moved from the old building to the new – was rung 26 times while the names and ages of those killed were read aloud.
The San-Antonio Express News reports that Pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose 14-year-old daughter Annabelle was among those killed, spoke at a private morning ceremony before the dedication about the pain the congregation had been through.
“The dedication has been costly to many of us,” he was quoted as saying. “Physically, mentally, emotionally. And for 26 of our precious friends and family, it cost them everything.”
He said the real church was “the people” while the building was “just brick, stone, wood, glass”.
“I have been blessed as a pastor to be amongst a bunch of people who chose not to look into themselves, but to look beyond themselves to others.”
His wife, Sherri, said the past 18 months had been an emotional rollercoaster, according to a report by Texas Public Radio.
“Everybody’s on a different spot in the grief scale, and that’s OK,” she said. “You know, we’re here to lift each other up. When somebody has a bad day then somebody else is having a good day, and that balances things out just like in any relationship.”
The shooting was the deadliest in modern Texan history. The future of the original building remains in question – the church has not yet made a decision about what it will do with it in the long term.
