Illinois parish offers support, resources following university shootings

By Joe Bjordal, February 15, 2008 [Episcopal News Service] St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Dekalb, Illinois, is located only three blocks from the Campus of Northern Illinois University, the site of a shooting rampage on February 14 that has left six people dead and many others wounded. The congregation and its rector, the Rev. Mark Geisler, are now involved in offering a variety of resources to help a shocked and grieving university community cope with the tragedy.

Geisler was driving back to DeKalb February 14 when he heard news that a gunman had opened fire in Cole Hall on the university campus. He immediately called his wife, Varsie, who works at the University. Finding her to be safe he then began to contact his colleagues in the United Campus Ministry, a joint effort of the Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ, of which he is president of the Board of Directors.

Geisler soon found himself in Neptune Hall, a dormitory adjacent to the site of the shootings, offering counseling and support to students, along with other clergy and professional counselors.

"What we are feeling right now is a combination of shellshock and adrenaline," said Geisler. "At the moment it is all just very surreal."

Surreal is the way Geisler described the scene looking out the window of the neighboring building at Cole Hall. Seeing the building under lockdown and surrounded by police cars, ambulances, a mobile FBI crime lab and with helicopters hovering overhead was a scene he termed as "unbelievable."

Surreal was also the way Geisler described the mood of the students who came for counseling yesterday in Neptune Hall. He said many students really were not sure what they needed and wanted to just "hang out."

"For most, it just has not hit them yet," he said. "The worst is yet to come."

Geisler participated with other clergy at an interdenominational prayer vigil last night at Lutheran Campus Ministry, which, he said, attracted a large turnout.

St. Paul's planned to host its own prayer vigil at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 15. The church has also made its sanctuary open and available to the community for prayer.

The congregation has also offered meeting and worship space to Campus Missions International, an interdenominational student ministry which had been meeting on Sunday evenings in Cole Hall.

Geisler says he has been inundated with phone calls and email messages, including from the Diocese of Chicago's new bishop, the Right Rev. Jeffrey Lee, who called just an hour after the shootings occurred. Lee plans to visit DeKalb on Saturday, February 16.

"At the moment we are just staying in the present," said Geisler, "and channeling our energy and resources through United Campus Ministry. Those people are on the front lines."

"We are grateful for the prayers of the church during this difficult time," he said.

-- Joe Bjordal is Episcopal Life Media correspondent in the dioceses of Provinces V and VI. He is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

» Respond to this article

Browse by Topic:

Browse by Topic: 2009 »   Anglican and Global Relations   Children, Youth and Young Adults   Congregational Ministries   Ecumenical and Inter-Religious   Education   Ethnic Ministries   Executive Council   FEAST: Faith, Environment, Action, Science, Technology   General Convention   House of Bishops   Liturgy and Music   Millennium Development Goals   Peace and Justice   Presiding Bishop   Program, Budget and Finance   Women and the Church