VIRGINIA: Congregations reach out in aftermath of Virginia Tech shootings

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, April 20, 2007 [Episcopal News Service] The people of many Episcopal Diocese of Virginia congregations have offered their neighbors ways to grieve over the April 16 killings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

A list of some of the events that have taken place can be found here.

The Diocese of Virginia is based in Richmond, while Virginia Tech is located in the Roanoke-based Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.

St. John's Episcopal Church in Centreville, Virginia, is reaching out to its Fairfax Country community, which has been especially shaken by the week's events.

Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a South Korean who was a resident alien in the United States and Virginia Tech senior, apparently opened fire in a dormitory and then a classroom building, killing 32 people before committing suicide. It was the deadliest shooting in United States history. Cho attended public high school in Centreville, as did two of his victims.

The Rev. Dr. Howard Kempsell Jr., St. John's rector, said that the parish's historic chapel will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the coming days for people to spend time in quiet prayer. The chapel's "simple and dignified" interior makes it a comfortable place for people of many faiths, he said. The parish is in a fairly quiet, still-rural part of heavily developed Fairfax County. No formal services are planned during the time the chapel is open.

Kempsell said he realized that people dealing with the aftermath of the shootings need to come together in larger groups for worship and other connections, but said he also senses that people need time by themselves or with a smaller number of people.

"It just seems like its going to be really important" in the coming days, he said.

Kempsell, who said his daughter attended the same high school as Cho, has read that there are as many as 35,000 Virginia Tech alums living in northern Virginia. Some of those are from the growing Korean community in Centreville.

The community is very diverse, Kempsell said. There was a Fairfax County vigil service on April 18 that he described as "the most memorable service I've ever been at." His reaction came in part from the faiths represented at the service, including Christian, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh. All the faith representatives offered prayers from their traditions, often chanting them or accompanying them with music.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.

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