ELCA NEWS SERVICE
February 15, 2008
Lutherans Offer Comfort after Northern Illinois University Shooting
08-014-MRC/FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gary M. Wollersheim,
bishop of the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Rockford, said the
Lutheran Campus Ministry Center at Northern Illinois
University (NIU), DeKalb, is open around the clock
"offering food, prayer and fellowship" in response to
the Feb. 14 shooting at NIU that left five students
dead plus the gunman.
"There is a feeling of numbness about the terrible
tragedy which occurred yesterday at Northern Illinois
University. Students are saying that they can't believe
that it could happen here in DeKalb," said Wollersheim
in a Feb. 15 update.
The Rev. Diane Schmidt Dardón, Lutheran campus
pastor at NIU, "spent many hours yesterday and well
into the early morning at Kishwaukee Community Hospital
ministering to victims of the shooting and their families.
Her courage and compassion brought the light of Christ
during a very dark time," Wollersheim said.
"We held candlelight prayer services on the corner
outside the Campus Ministry Center at 10 p.m. and midnight.
These were attended by what seemed to be hundreds of
students as well as area pastors and Lutheran campus
ministry board members and friends. We sang together
'Amazing Grace' and relit each others' candles as the
wind blew. I believe that is the point of our ministry,
relighting the candles in the wind," said Wollersheim.
Care providers from NIU campus ministries and others
from the university are meeting Feb. 15 to discuss "ways
to respond. Lots of students have gone home, so it seems
that next week will be a critical time," Wollersheim said.
Associate in Ministry Karin Graddy, communication
coordinator, ELCA Northern Illinois Synod, sent an online
announcement about a noon vigil Feb. 15 at First Lutheran
Church, DeKalb.
"Hundreds of kids are coming in and out of the Lutheran
Campus Ministry Center in the middle of campus. Many of
the kids are staying there 24/7 to pray and be together.
Many are awaiting rides home. Many just want to be there
and pray," Graddy wrote.
At a Feb. 15 news conference on the NIU campus Dr. John
Peters, NIU president, said, "We had a plan in place for
this sort of thing. Our university police had practiced
that plan. They showed that yesterday in the speed and the
professionalism of that response. We were dealing with a
disturbed individual who intended to do harm on this campus.
We did everything we could to ensure the safety of this
university, and we are going to continue in that vein."
Peters said he has been visiting with the victims of
the shooting and their families in the hospital. "Let me
say that their response, as you can imagine, is heart-rending,
but I was impressed with their internal strength. They will
get through this with our help and (with) the help and prayers
of a lot of individuals across this country and the world,"
he said.
"We will announce plans for our reopening at a later
date," said Peters. "But first, we really have to deal with
this healing process," he said. "Let me say to our community,
to the NIU community, parents, victims and students, faculty
and staff, we will get through this together."
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Information about the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod is at
http://www.nisynod.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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