October 13, 1999

Faith grows in shooting's shadow
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___FORT WORTH--An e-mail is circulating widely about the tragic events at Wedgwood Baptist Church and the days that have followed, and while most of the contents are true, a few either cannot be documented or are not entirely true, according to church leaders.
___Regardless, Baptists at Wedgwood and throughout Fort Worth continue to express thanks to God that the Sept. 15 shooting rampage didn't cause even more death and destruction than it did. And reports continue to accumulate of people coming to faith in Christ as a result of the shooting.
___The Baptist Standard was not immediately able to trace the source of the e-mail, which purports to be written by a Wedgwood member and is titled "Wedgwood update."
___One of the e-mail's illustrations purporting to show evidence of God's control during the shooting says: "To enter the church, the gunman walked past our children's playground, which should have been full of kids, but for some reason every single children's and preschool class was running late. No one had made it to the playground yet."
___The church said in a written statement that description was only partially true.
___"The gunman entered through the south foyer doors," the church response explains. "This door is not by the playground. One can see the playground if they were at just the right angle, but the gunman was very intent on getting inside the building. It is true that the children were not outside because of delays."
___The e-mail also says the bottom fell off the pipe bomb thrown by Larry Gene Ashbook, causing it not to detonate. The bomb did explode, the church response states, but it exploded upward and not outward, with the shrapnel landing in the balcony.
___And contrary to the e-mail, some kids did see wounded victims before they fled the building; several teens mentioned seeing the body of Sydney Browning, the church's children's choir director.
___On the other hand, the e-mail does contain some information that is true and very uplifting, church officials said:
___ A United Methodist church in Fort Worth sent 15 people to Wedgwood the Sunday after the shooting to cover the church's childcare needs, so that no adults would have to miss the service.
___ Members of a church in Tulsa, Okla., drove five hours so they could march around the Wedgwood Church and pray during its services that Sunday.
___ One of the youth who was wounded protecting a friend has scoliosis. The curve in her spine may have allowed the bullet to miss major organs as it passed through her, saving her from serious injury.
___ A number of teenagers have professed faith in Jesus Christ at Fort Worth schools and throughout Tarrant County since the shooting.
___ Wedgwood has received strong support from Christians around the world. As of Oct. 6, the church had received more than 13,000 e-mails, 20,000 cards and letters, hundreds of posters and banners, and $100,000 in donations. Those e-mails, cards, letters, posters and banners now line the hallways of the church.
___There is much more going on at Wedgwood than is contained in the e-mail, however.
___"There is a deep sense that we have to wait on God right now," said Chris Shirley, minister of education and single adults. "None of us are absolutely sure where God is leading us right now, but we do know we want him to be the one leading us."
___Wedgwood Pastor Al Meredith has led a call to prayer.
___"What has emerged from the tragic shooting in our church on Sept. 15 is a clear message of hope and faith in our God, even in the darkest hours," Meredith said. "I have called our people to 40 days of concerted prayer for spiritual awakening in our nation, Sept. 28-Nov. 7. I invite others to join us."
___The Wedgwood tragedy also has energized the prayer lives of many members of First Baptist Church of White Settlement and other churches in Tarrant County, added Jim Gatliff, pastor of the suburban Fort Worth church. One of the youths killed at Wedgwood was from his church's youth group, and another member of the White Settlement youth group was seriously wounded.
___"Probably the biggest difference I have seen is in prayer," Gatliff said. "We have Christians all over this city who are praying for revival."
___Some think revival already may have begun. Forty-two students at a school near Wedgwood recently professed faith in Christ, and Gatliff said more than 100 have become Christians through the rallies and the funeral of Joey Ennis in White Settlement.
___Follow-up on some of the decisions may be difficult, however, Gatliff said, because many of the decisions were made at events where people didn't fill out commitment cards. "We're just having to trust the Lord in that," he said.
___He went on to say, however, that many of those making commitments already are beginning to attend area churches.
___There also has been a rise in the commitment level among Wedgwood members who made decisions for Christ before the shooting, he said.
___"The No. 1 thing I've noticed is a renewed commitment to the body of Christ," Shirley said. "We are seeing people back in church that we haven't seen for a very long time."
___Christians also are demonstrating a greater commitment to one another, he added.
___"We linger longer with one another. Worship services end, but the people don't leave. They stay and talk with one another. I hear a lot more people telling one another, 'I love you.' I see a lot more people hugging."
___Shirley admitted not all Wedgwood members are reacting to the tragedy the same way.
___"There are some people who are still deeply hurting, people who when they come here, they don't feel absolutely secure. Everyone is going to take their own time to get through this in their own way," he said.
___That same dichotomy is evident among the church's youth, Shirley reported. "There has been a resurgence in our youth and in their participation, but there are also some among that group who are still hurting."
___Wedgwood also is seeing a lot of new faces in its worship services, but church leaders are encouraging those who are merely wishing to change churches to reconsider.
___"When people call and say, 'I've been going to Such-and-Such Church, but now I feel like I need to come to Wedgwood,' we discourage that. We tell them they should reconsider and that church membership should really be a matter of prayer," Shirley said.

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