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COVER STORY: Tragedy in Virginia: UMs give love, support Mary Jacobs, Apr 19, 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO/THE ROANOKE TIMES, SAM DEAN
BLACKSBURG, Va.--Virginia Tech students light candles during a vigil on April 16, hours after a gunman killed 32 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
By Mary Jacobs Associate Editor
After tragedy struck the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on April 16, United Methodists stepped in to offer support through prayers and presence.
"The greatest ministry we can offer at this point is the love and support that students are giving each other," said Rev. Glenn Tyndall, director of the Wesley Foundation at Virginia Tech, speaking the day after the shooting. "Right now, I'm just trying to assist them in that process."
On April 16, Mr. Tyndall spent most of the day checking on the campus ministry's 100 or so participating students. None were killed or injured. However, students grieved as they received word of friends, classmates and professors who had died in the shooting. The Wesley building stayed open all night, offering landlines, counseling and food to students seeking comfort. About a dozen students spent the night there, too frightened to leave the building.
Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior in the university's English department, was named as the gunman in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, which left 33 dead including himself.
Mr. Tyndall said he'd received more than 500 e-mails within the first 24 hours after the tragedy, including prayers and offers of help from campus ministers across the U.S. "We've had many offers of professional help, but we're not that point yet," he said. "Our response is unfolding from day to day."
Nearby Blacksburg United Methodist Church, which started the Wesley ministry 40 years ago, held special evening services April 16 and 17.
"There's been a lot of confusion," said Rev. Reginald Tuck, the church's pastor. "We've had an influx of people into the town, and a lot of students have left the campus." Classes were cancelled until the following week. One family at Blacksburg UMC had been affected by the tragedy but Mr. Tuck could not release any details. Mr. Tuck also serves as chaplain of the Virginia Tech police force.
"We've been receiving lots of offers of help and those are deeply appreciated," he said. "But right now we're just trying to comprehend what's happened."
Bishop Charlene Kammerer of the Virginia Conference and Rev. Stephen Hundley, Roanoke District superintendent, traveled to Blacksburg to attend an afternoon convocation and prayer service on April 17. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush were also at the service.
"Our hearts have been deeply saddened by this tragic event at Virginia Tech," Bishop Kammerer said in a statement, adding that she was comforted knowing that Mr. Tyndall is on the campus. "He is deeply respected and loved by his students. We know he will be offering wonderful pastoral care and that it will be long-term."
United Methodist bloggers weighed in with prayers and support, too.
On his 7 Villages blog, Erik Alsgaard in Lakeland, Fla., wrote of his relief when he learned his son Zach, 23, a fifth-year senior at Virginia Tech, was safe.
Blogger Allan R. Bevere, pastor of Smithville UMC in Smithville, Ohio, urged restraint: "No doubt we will have the debates over guns and security and procedures. But, please, do the angry and the grieving a favor . . . and save the arguments until after the funerals."
And blogger Mark Winter simply wrote: "I don't have the words for the Virginia Tech shooting. . . . I have nothing profound or clever to say. Sometimes, like Job, you just have to sit in dust and ashes and wait for God to show up."
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO/THE ROANOKE TIMES, SAM DEAN
"There's been a lot of confusion," said Rev. Reginald Tuck, the church's pastor. "We've had an influx of people into the town, and a lot of students have left the campus." Classes were cancelled until the following week. One family at Blacksburg UMC had been affected by the tragedy but Mr. Tuck could not release any details. Mr. Tuck also serves as chaplain of the Virginia Tech police force. 
