Seeking solace: Oregon residents turn to faith for answers after massacre
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Seeking solace: Oregon residents turn to faith for answers after massacre
Churches in Roseburg, Ore., were filled Sunday with neighbors, friends and family trying to find consolation after a deadly shooting spree at Umpqua Community College. In the Rev. Randy Scroggins’ congregation at New Beginnings Church of God, Scroggins’ 18-year-old daughter Lacey — who survived the massacre because the gunman believed she was dead — sat in the first row with her mother. Randy Scroggins said he has been asked whether he can forgive Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer, who killed nine people at the college last week.
I don’t know. I don’t focus on the man. I focus on the evil that was in the man.
The Rev. Randy Scroggins
There have been conflicting accounts of Harper-Mercer’s words inside the community college classroom and what he may have meant by them. Some witness accounts indicate that he asked students if they were Christian and then executed them. Other witnesses said he killed others randomly. At the Garden Valley Church, the Rev. Craig Schlesinger spoke about trying to make sense of the reports that the gunman questioned people’s religion before shooting them.
As those brave men and women were willing to stand and take a bullet for their faith … so let us bravely stand this day and live our faith in Roseburg.
The Rev. Craig Schlesinger, pastor of Garden Valley Church
