Church Congregation Try To Forgive Following Senseless Murder
Posted January 2, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For most, forgiveness would be an almost unfathomable notion if one of their loved ones were brutally gunned down in the fashion that Jean Springer lost her life.
But members of a church group that often prayed with Springer were trying to find room for forgiveness in their hearts when they gathered at Malvern Methodist Church on Tuesday.
“Jean had a forgiving spirit, and we are sure that she would want us to forgive whoever committed this senseless act,” said youth pastor Marlon Mitchell.
Church members like Jeanette Russell tried to absord that message.
“That’s not something we want to do,” she admits. “It’s not something that we choose to do, but it’s something that God expects us to do.”
She was one of hundreds who gathered to pray, remember, and seek comfort after Springer was gunned down while preparing a special New Year’s Dinner for her loving family.
“Jean had incredible compassion for people who had actually been hurt by violence, people who were broken,” recalled Russell. “Jean was someone who brought them the love of God and fixed them.”
