After shooting, Wisconsin school and church lean into Christmas message for comfort
For Christians around the world, Christmas is the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus. To affirm their beliefs – that God is present and has not forsaken them – the faith community at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, just days after a fatal shooting there.
“When people say, ‘Where is your God?’ He is clearer to us now than ever,” the Rev. Sarah Karlen told the Associated Press. “I’m sure the phrase ‘Prince of Peace’ and ‘God with us’ will be used a little more this year.”
Karlen is a pastor at City Church, which founded the school in the late 1970s where she is also a theater teacher. This weekend the church will hold the funeral of a 14-year-old student, Rubi Patricia Vergara, who was killed Monday when another student opened fire, also killing a teacher and wounding several others at the school on same campus.
“When we say that God is with us, especially here at Christmas – when we say, you know, Emmanuel ‘God with us,’ that he came to earth to be with us – I know without a doubt that each of us each of us here at City Church would say that in a whole new way,” Karlen added.
The evangelical, non-denominational church of more than 1,200 members, decorated with Christmas lights including Christmas trees and a nativity scene, also hosted a vigil on Tuesday.
Then, drawing from the Bible and especially the book of Job, pastors addressed the challenge of reconciling faith in a loving God with the fact that He allowed great suffering to happen.
Karlen also disputed some insults on the school’s social media that questioned the school’s religious beliefs. To the applause of the congregation, she repeatedly affirmed God’s presence in the midst of mourning and fatigue.
“None of our staff say we understand why or how something happened. But we do understand that God sees us, sees things very differently than we do,” Karlen said later.
Police continue to investigate why Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, 15, attacked the school before fatally shooting herself. Although there have been dozens of school shootings in the US in recent years, the vast majority are carried out by teenage boys and young men.
Barbara Wiers said faith helps teachers, students and families make peace with the possibility that they will never have complete answers.
“Maybe this senseless tragedy will never make sense. But. God, right? God understands, and God was there, and God is still there,” said Wiers, director of primary education and communications at the school. “At the end of the day, it’s not about man’s judgment, even though all that will happen – because of the legal system and how that plays out. But God’s righteous judgment will reign. And we trust him for that.”
The school remains closed as staff works to repair the physical damage so that teachers and students are not immediately re-traumatized upon their return, Wiers said. Safety and wellness protocols are also being reviewed.
But on Christmas Eve, City Church plans to hold carols and candlelight services, hoping the community will take comfort in the familiar traditions.
“We know this is a long road for all of us, but the beginning is being with each other in the presence of God, hugging each other, singing together and praying together,” Karlen said.
Other churches affiliated with the school, as well as the broader Madison community, quickly came together to help, from alumni starting food drives to evangelical ministries sending chaplains to ministers among those in the hospital.
“The healing will come slowly, but they will not be left alone,” said the Rev. Kerri Parker, executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, whose member organizations include about 2,000 churches and 1 million Christians.
Abundant Life Christian School is part of Impact Christian Schools, a network of private educational institutions that welcome families regardless of faith, said Impact director Chuck Moore.
Moore said he hoped the shooting so close to the holidays wouldn’t forever link Christmas with tragedy for the community.
“Even in the face of terrible events, it is still a time we can rejoice in,” Moore said. “We can focus our celebration on who Christ is.”
Teachers at the school have already spoken about Jesus and faith in “every classroom, every subject, all day long, because God is not limited to Sundays,” Wiers said. And that focus will continue when school reopens sometime in January.
‘We have changed. Our family has changed. But God has not changed. He didn’t move. He hasn’t changed at all,” Wiers said. “And the message hasn’t changed. God is good. God is always good. He is faithful and he is true. And even though we are heartbroken, he will get us through this.”
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Associated Press religion reporting receives support through the APs cooperation with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.