Christmas Eve church service seeks to ease pain of Oxford school tragedy

The month of December in Oxford has shrouded this community an hour north of Detroit in a darkness far deeper than winter brings.

Residents were slammed with communal shock and grief over shootings in late November at Oxford High School.

Amid the lingering darkness, Kensington Church in Lake Orion, just south of Oxford, scheduled its usual lineup of services for Christmas Eve. The church recently saw 1,400 mourners for the funeral of one of four students who died.

Lead Pastor Craig McGlassion said Friday afternoon that he couldn’t stage-manage his church’s usual holiday theatrics, dramatizing the Christmas story as if nothing outside had changed. McGlassion said the service had to acknowledge the hurt burdening his flock. Still, where the tragedy had been central to recent sermons, on Christmas Eve the service wasn't to focus on it, but also wasn't to ignore it.

“I think it’s time to push back the darkness. We’re going to really celebrate Christmas as the light that enters humanity,” McGlassion said.

The shooting stunned not just the community but the entire nation, drawing nonstop attention to this area of lakes, country lanes and semi-rural subdivisions. The notoriety swelled with implications that the suspect's parents, as well as school authorities, might have prevented the tragedy.

That’s left locals both defensive and despairing amid the harsh glare of publicity. Now, at Christmas Eve, church leaders said it was time to start healing. At nearby St. Joseph Catholic Church, Father John Carlin aimed to provide a refuge from the anguish.

“What the community needs now is just to grieve and pray. Our parishioners need a safe space for that,” said Carlin, who minutes after the Nov. 30 shooting had rushed to a supermarket parking lot across from the high school to console the crowd of panicked students there.

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At Kensington Church, whose Lake Orion campus seats 1,350 in the auditorium , the Christmas Eve tradition had been to pull out all the stops. Not this year, McGlassion said.

“We’ve canceled some of the over-the-top things we had scheduled that had a Christmas theme. We’re known for big, high-energy productions, and we’ve steered away from that this year. We’re really going to focus on Jesus and his ability to bring the light of goodness and healing to any situation,” he said.

Almost daily, the story of the shootings has grown more sinister and more sordid. Not only is 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley charged with multiple counts of murder and numerous other charges — the incident caused four student deaths while also injuring seven others including a teacher. Crumbley’s parents also are in custody and facing charges.

The boy’s parents were said by prosecutors to have spent much of their time for years ignoring troubling signs in their son, while they had affairs and cared for their horses. According to prosecutors, the boy’s mental state was deteriorating along with his parents’ marriage.

At Kensington Church, where worshippers dressed casually, Nicole Stapp had on a sweatshirt that said “Oxford Strong” — the mantra of encouragement that caught on after the shootings.

“It’s Christmas. What better opportunity to bring some joy, after everything that’s happened,” Stapp said as she strolled into Kensington’s 3 p.m. service with her family. She has a ninth grade son at the high school and two other children, she said.

“It’s been a terrible time. This is going to help,” she said.

The sprawling church was scheduled to hold four services on Christmas Eve, each with about 1,000 worshippers in attendance, ushers said. Each attendee was handed a candle as people filed in.

McGlassion, in a red shirt and blue jeans under a black blazer, knelt onstage for a prayer, then looked out at the crowd.

“Some of you, right now, have fought the biggest struggle of your lives. We have watched a disease go all the way around the world.

“There are a couple of you out there, I know, you’re having Christmas without your husbands.

“And I think of what happened in Oxford a few weeks ago. I think none of us have ever experienced that level of darkness,” he said.

Only faith in God’s message can give comfort amid overwhelming grief and fear, he said.

Minutes later, a youngster began making the rounds, lighting every candle in every outstretched hand. As they did at Kensington’s vigil on the night of the shooting, people held up the flickering flames in the dark auditorium. Only this time, instead of shock, the mood was different, as faces shined with the holiday’s renewal of hope.

“Whatever happens, remember the joy,” their pastor said through his microphone, calling for all to raise their candles high.

With that came a country rock-infused version of “Joy to the World.” Onstage, electric guitars strummed, a bass thumped, a drummer kept time and even an amplified violin helped back the singers.

For an hour and then some, painful memories faded, and the high school tragedy that had unfolded just a few miles up the road seemed to have happened much farther away.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Christmas Eve church services seek to ease pain amid Oxford's tragedy