February 24, 2003

RESCUE workers scurry around the wrecked chartered bus as traffic backs up on I-35 northbound outside Waco Feb. 14. The group of mostly senior adults was traveling to Dallas for a concert. (Duane Laverty/WACO TRIBUNE HERALD Photo)	A VICTIM of the bus crash is taken to an ambulance at the scene of the wreck.

Temple church mourns loss of life in bus wreck
___By John Hall
___Texas Baptist Communications
___TEMPLE--Seven long-stemmed red roses stood in tall, clear vases beside the pulpit at Memorial Baptist Church Feb. 16.
___They served as silent reminders of the seven people, including five church members, killed in a bus wreck two days earlier.
___About 250 worshippers, many wearing black, gathered at the normal time for Sunday morning worship. But on this Sunday they also gathered to support each other and remember their five friends who had died and the 28 others who were injured in the accident south of Waco.
___The tragedy injured or killed every person aboard the chartered bus headed to Dallas for a Bill Gaither Homecoming Concert at Reunion Arena.
___Initial reports indicated the accident occurred amid a torrential rain. As the bus crested a hill, the driver reportedly swerved to avoid a collision with cars stopped on the rain-soaked highway.
___The northbound bus crossed the grassy median and crushed a southbound sport utility vehicle head on. Then the bus rolled onto its side in a ditch on the far side of Interstate 3

AN unidentified man and woman comfort each other in prayer at the scene of the bus wreck along I-35. (Duane Laverty/WACO TRIBUNE HERALD Photo)

5 south.
___The driver and a passenger in the SUV were killed, and another passenger was injured.
___A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said he could not confirm the reason the driver lost control of the bus but said a final report of the investigation would be released within 60 days.
___Ministers from Memorial Baptist Church arrived on the scene to find a large portion of the senior adult group hurt and bodies covered with body bags scattered about.
___Associate Pastor Robert Mattson, the second staff member on the scene, discovered one church member standing next to the body of his wife. Mattson, who had watched the bus leave the church an hour before, only could manage to put his arms around the man.
___"There are no words," Mattson said. "You're just numb. You're in shock."
___As the injured were transported to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center and Providence Health Center in Waco and Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Mattson, Pastor Roy Parker and Youth Minister Scott Benson split up to care for the families.
___The church held a prayer vigil later that evening in response to a growing number of "devastated" people who were coming to the church as they heard of the wreck, Parker said. They came together to pray for the church and remember the key church members who had fallen.
___Martha McKee, 77, was a member of the church since 1962 and served as editor of a newsletter for the church's senior adults.
___Jo Freeman, 70, was active in the shut-in ministry and helped serve meals for funeral services. She was the mother-in-law of Duane Brooks, pastor of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston.

RESCUE workers give aid to the wounded under a pop-up tent brought out to provide shelter from the pouring rain. (Duane Laverty/WACO TRIBUNE HERALD Photo)

___Delores Hinton, 72, was director of the women's ministry at the church and a former professor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
___Melvin Akers, 76, was a deacon with a "smile that was contagious," Mattson said.
___Delois "Speedie" Akers, 72, was Melvin's wife and a choir member. Mattson described her as the "perfect lady."
___Brenda Dobelbower, 48, and Janice Roberson, 61, were killed in the SUV. Both worked at McLennan Community College in Waco.
___The members killed in the wreck will be "sorely missed," Parker said, noting they were "phenomenal" people.
___Christians nationwide came to the aid of the church, filling the church answering machine with pledges of continued prayer. Local businesses and organizations provided food and counselors.
___Baptist leaders, including the directors of missions for Bell and Waco Baptist associations and Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade, offered prayer and support.
___The Texas Baptist Men Victim Relief Services unit arrived the next day with 11 chaplains to counsel church members.
___"I cannot even tell you how great they were," Parker said. "They just came in and took care of things that needed to be done."
___These acts of fellowship and support were merely a prelude to the Feb. 16 worship service.
___Just after 11 a.m., a surge of emotionally worn church members almost silently moved into the sanctuary from their Sunday School classes, where many received further counseling. Hugs abounded throughout the church as the tight-knit congregation came together as a whole for the first time since the accident.
___As gentle music filled the room, children worked their way to the pews, holding on to a

RESCUE workers search under the bus, with the demolished SUV in the background. (Rod Aydelotte/ WACO TRIBUNE HERALD Photo)

parent with one arm and a teddy bear in the other.
___Worshippers spoke of Jesus as the strength who would see them through these difficult times.
___Before the offertory prayer, a deacon spoke of the importance of the five laypeople, saying it took three people to do the duties Melvin Acres normally handled.
___A woman in the first row of the choir burst into tears and collapsed in the arms of the woman next to her, who also began to cry. Tears rolled down scarred faces of injured victims throughout the sanctuary.
___Members and visitors alike grabbed for tissue packets at the ends of every pew.
___Later in the service, Parker confessed to the congregation that he did not know all the answers, but he knew God would work through the tragedy. He prais

A MEMORIAL WREATH stands at the entrance to Memorial Baptist Church in Temple. (John Hall/BGCT Photo)

ed the church members for coming together and supporting each other in such trying times.
___Parker calmly explained it was all right to be mad at God. God would understand this was an emotional time, he said, while also reassuring them God provided hope for the future.
___Toward the end of the service, Parker announced the times and locations of the memorials for the church members, all scheduled for the following week.
___The congregation held hands high in the air and sang the "Doxology"--"Praise God from whom all blessings flow ..."--to dismiss the service. Some moved toward the door, but many lingered to embrace each other and share a heartening word.
___Parker greeted each worshipper on the way out with a firm handshake or hug and a final encouraging word.
___The congregation exited past a heart-shaped wreath memorial that had been blown over by a stiff wind. And they faced an intimidating row of television cameras and reporters who were camped out on the first row of the parking lot.
___Some worshippers stopped to speak to the reporters, but many walked around them. A few expressed displeasure with their presence.
___Despite the mixed reaction from the congregation, Parker thanked the media for carrying the story around the world. The interviews allowed him to share his feelings and spread the gospel internationally, he said.
___"I wanted us to try to share to the world how great and wonderful it is to be a Christian in a situation like this," the pastor said.
___Church leaders said they plan to do everything possible to remember those lost. "These people will forever live in our memories," Parker explained.
___Yet the church will go on, he insisted. "We're going forward. We still have plans in place we believe God has put there. We're not going to change a thing."
___Added Mattson: "There has been a resolution of the people that we are going to make it through this, and the church is going to grow stronger."
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