wfn.org | Youth among crash victims

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3071 notes).

Note 3064 by UMNS on July 22, 1996 at 16:05 Eastern (5027 characters).

SEARCH:  TWA, Flight 800, youth, Montoursville, Pennsylvania
  UMNS stories may be accessed on the Internet World Wide Web at:
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Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
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CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally                       350(10-71){3064}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             July 22, 1996

United Methodists mourn youth
on downed TWA flight 800

by Dean Snyder*

     HARRISBURG, Pa. (UMNS) --  Sunday afternoon, July 14, just
before leaving for a week's vacation, the Rev. Bruce D. Fisher,
pastor of Faith United Methodist Church in Montoursville, Pa.,
dropped off a homemade rhubarb pie at the home of 16-year-old
Cheryl Nibert.  
     It was his way to say thanks for helping with the church's
Vacation Bible School the previous week and to wish her well on
her upcoming trip to Paris with her high school French Club.
     Cheryl, president of Faith Church's youth fellowship, was
excited about the trip but wished she didn't have to leave five
new-born kittens, according to Fisher.
     The following Wednesday, July 17, just before midnight, a
relative who had driven up from Montoursville knocked on the door
of Fisher's cabin in the hills of northern Pennsylvania to tell
him that Cheryl, four other youth from Faith Church, and eleven
other students from the Montoursville High School had tickets to
Paris on TWA Flight 800, which exploded earlier that evening
minutes after take-off from New York's JFK Airport.
     An hour and a half later, Fisher was back in Montoursville,
visting the youths' families throughout the night as they hoped
and prayed their children had missed the flight or been
rescheduled on another plane.
     The Rev. Kraig Faust, senior pastor of St. John's United
Methodist Church in Williamsport, Pa., spent Wednesday night, July
17, in nearby Montoursville, praying with Irenay Weaver, whose
daughter Monica also had a ticket for Flight 800, while Monica's
father, Robert Weaver Jr., traveled to New York in an attempt to
get more information about the crash and any survivors.
     "Although I understand the reasons for it, the lack of
information made it harder to cope," Faust said.
     Monica, 16, had spent Monday and Tuesday volunteering in St.
John's Vacation Bible School in spite of planning to leave for
Paris with her French club Wednesday.  She had taught at Vacation
Bible School ever since she had stopped being a student herself
and was also a leader of the church's youth group and a member of
the youth and flute choirs, according to the Rev. Logan Swanger,
St. John's associate pastor.
     Although the presence of the youth on Flight 800 had not yet
been confirmed, about 2,500 people, half of Montoursville's 5,000
citizens, including many of Faith Church's 1,200 members, gathered
at the high school on Thursday evening, July 18, where Fisher and
other community pastors read Psalms and led prayers.  
     Two school buses had transported parents of French club
members to New York where they were still trying to get
information on their children's status.
     On Friday, July 19, local TV stations reported official
boarding lists of Flight 800 passengers, including the 16 youth
and five adult chaperones from the Montoursville High School
French club.
     "The most unanswered question that people are asking is
'why?'," Fisher said.  "They were young, vibrant, neat kids,
bright, energetic, good students, with their whole lives ahead of
them."
     "Cheryl (Niebert) had just finished her sophomore year; she
was a cheerleader, very popular and our missionary," he said. 
"She'd bring kids she met to our worship and youth group."
     She had recently been elected to the Central Pennsylvania
Conference's Council on Youth Ministries and was eager to serve,
according to Fisher.
     Other youth from Faith Church on Flight 800 included Rance
Hettler, 18, who had graduated from high school this spring and
was planning to attend Northwestern University; Jackie Watson, 18,
who was also a recent high school graduate; Jordan Bower, 13, who
had recently moved and transferred his membership to Heilman's
United Methodist Church in Williamsport; and Larissa Uzupis, 16,
whom Cheryl Neibert had invited to attend Faith Church and who
also had served as a teacher for Vacation Bible School.
     At St. John's Church, where both her parents as well as
Monica Weaver had been teaching Vacation Bible School, the other
teachers met early on Thursday morning to decide whether to cancel
the school.
     "We decided we had a commitment to the boys and girls (to
continue the school) even though most of the teachers didn't feel
like it," Swanger said.  "I didn't feel like it.  I can't get her
face out of my mind."
                              #  #  #
     *Snyder is editor of The Link, newspaper of the Central
Pennsylvania Annual Conference.

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