Dallas church offers school shooting communities a place to navigate grief, space to pray
DALLAS – Saint Andrews United Methodist Church wants to help neighbors in need.
"We knew as soon as we heard what was going on that our community was shifting into a place of mourning," Pastor Kristin Warthen said.
Warthen said the church has historical ties to Bowie High School in Arlington. Students and staff used to come over and eat. The two facilities are less than two miles apart.
Arlington police said Etavion Barnes was shot to death by Julian Howard outside of the school. It's a deadly shooting that turned an 18-year-old into a murder victim and a 17-year-old into a murder suspect.
"I cannot imagine the pain his family is going through," Warthen said. "I cannot imagine the pain the assailant's family is going through … and so we hold all of them in prayer."
Investigators said there was more speculation than proof for the shooting motive. The impact of the killing is evident. Students had to wait for houses inside the school during a lockdown. Parents, in the meantime, watched the hours pass by before students went home.
"In times of pain and in times of sorrow and in times of grief, we need one another, and we wanted to open up our doors," Warthen said.
Saint Andrews is opening its sanctuary for those who need a space to navigate their grief. The community prayer is at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"I hope that they will walk out knowing that violence may have reached their doors, violence may have reached their lives, but love is so much longer in its reach," Warthen said. "Love is so much more powerful than that violence."
Friday also marks two weeks since the shooting inside Wilmer-Hutchins High School, where police say a student got a gun past metal detectors and shot a student who survived.
According to Warthen, the doors are open for Hutchins students and students from other schools.
Warthen said young people need us more than ever, especially during difficult days. She said as a parent of a teenager, she knows that well.
"They need to know that they are loved for their very existence and for no other reason," Warthen said.