Slay church a memorial
Texas site now honors 26 who died there
The Texas church where 26 people were slaughtered last week has become a memorial to the fallen.
Photos taken inside the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs show 26 chairs lined up in the place of pews, each bearing the name of a victim — and positioned in the spots where the innocent were praying before being mercilessly gunned down. A single long-stemmed red rose is tied to each chair with white ribbon.
At the front of the church, a Bible is laid open to the Book of Proverbs, in front of a cross bearing a crown of thorns and flanked by two boxes of tissues.
In the back of the chapel is a painting of a landscape, which is accompanied by a copy of Psalm 100 and an ode to the victims of gunman Devin Patrick Kelley.
“This passage was to be read the morning of November 5, 2017, and was never heard,” an inscription above the psalm reads. “It will now be heard by all.” A single chair, in memory of victim Karla Holcombe, faces the other seats. Holcombe had been in the seat as her husband, Bryan, filled in as guest preacher that day. He was also killed, along with six other members of the Holcome family.
Another chair was put out in honor of an unborn child killed during the rampage.
The church was reopened to the public Sunday for the first time since the killing spree. Family members of the victims were the first allowed in to view the memorial, which pastor Frank Pomeroy has said will eventually be demolished to make room for a new church.
“I know the name of every single person who lost their life that day, some of which were my best friends, and my daughter,” Pomeroy said, pausing to hold back tears. “I guarantee you that they are dancing with Jesus today.”
Pomeroy said some people may be critical of the church’s reopening. But “I want the world to know that building will be open so that everyone who walks in there will know that the people who died lived for their lord and savior,” he said.
The church initially planned to hold Sunday’s service indoors but moved proceedings to a nearby baseball park after learning some 500 people were expected to attend. It was the largest gathering at the church in the institution’s 100-year history, the pastor said.
Investigators believe the massacre stemmed from a domestic dispute between Kelley and his mother-in-law, who attended the church but was not at services that day.
The murderer, who had a history of domestic violence and was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force, killed himself after the carnage, authorities said. With Wires