wfn.org | Local UCC congregation, pastor stand with Weston family

["Barb Powell"<powellb@ucc.org>]

July 31, 1998
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
Laurie Bartels, press contact
(216) 736-2213
bartelsl@ucc.org
William C. Winslow, New York City contact
(212) 870-2137
winsloww@ucc.org
On the Web: <http://www.ucc.org>

Local United Church of Christ congregation, pastor stand with
Weston family

     New Hanover, Ill. -- For the congregation of the little rural
church with the red brick steeple nestled among corn and soybean
fields, the sudden glare of national media attention was unnerving. 
Especially last Sunday morning, when worshipers at Zoar United
Church of Christ in Hanover, Ill., arrived to find their sanctuary
surrounded by the press.  For in the congregation resides the family
of Russell Weston Jr., the man accused of gunning down two U.S.
Capitol policemen in Washington, D.C., last week.
     "Seldom have people been called upon to test the limits of
their faith the way my parishioners have," says Zoar's pastor, the
Rev. Robin Keating.  There has been no rush to judgement, he
confides, or any attempt to shun the family, even though members
sense the son "probably did something wrong."  Instead, there
have been prayer sessions, a steady stream of visits to the family's
beleaguered homesite and gifts of food, from cake to pickles.
     "The Westons have a deep sense of faith," explains
Keating, "and our people just responded.  I am in awe."
     Indeed, soon after the community learned of the shooting
and the name of the suspect, church members, along with
members of St. Paul's United Church of Christ in nearby
Columbia, Ill., pledged to pay the costs for the Weston family to
fly to Washington to visit their son, who is in the hospital with
gunshot wounds.  The Westons won't go until they are assured
access to their son, and they insist on paying their own expenses.
     "He's a proud man," says Pastor Keating, who notes that
Russell Weston Sr. is a stalwart member of the church choir.
     Faith and the role of the church in people's lives have been
in the spotlight as this American tragedy has unravelled before the
nations' TV viewers.  And a heavy burden of Christian caring has
been thrust onto the shoulders of Keating, only three years out of
seminary.  When news of the killings became public, authorities
cordoned off the Weston house, making the family prisoners in
their own home.  The only outside visitor allowed in was the
pastor.
     "I just listened to their grief until one in the morning," he
says quietly.  In the first contact with the media, the family asked
Keating to represent them.  Keating went outside the house the
Saturday morning after the shootings to read a statement in which
the elder Mr. Weston apologized to the nation for his son.  Later,
Keating wept as he watched a television interview in which the
Westons told how difficult it was to get their son to take medicine
for his psychiatric problems.
     "This is Christ in action; maybe we can help remove the
stigma of mental illness," Keating says he thought after the
experience.  A dedicated runner, the 46-year-old pastor says he
hopes to raise money for mental health education by competing in
his first marathon road race this fall and accepting pledges for each
of the 26 miles he completes.
     "The Westons are fine people," Keating says.  "I applaud
their openness at telling others about mental illness.  It can't be
hidden under the bed, in a closet.  It is important for them to come
forward as a model to others."
     The Sunday morning after the July 24 killing, Keating had
to lead "the most difficult service I've ever done," he says,
acknowledging that seminary never prepared him for a day like
that.  At 8 a.m., the first of more than 20 reporters and TV crews
showed up, all scrambling for seats at the 10 a.m. service.  The
TV cameras were banned, but Keating invited the reporters to
come to church as worshipers.  "I decided to welcome them as
Christ would have welcomed the stranger," Keating says, even
though he knew tension was in the air.
     His sermon for the day, "Christ brings real life," was based
on Colossians 2:6-19:  "As you therefore have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built
up in him ..." (Col. 2:6-7).  It must have had a salubrious effect. 
The press was attentive and respectful.  The mood of the
congregation softened and, after worship, church members talked
confortably with reporters.
     Neither Robin Keating nor anyone else knows how the
family and the community will relate to each other in the months
ahead, but he is encouraged by the fact the Westons have
received no hate mail or telephone messages.  "It has strengthened
my own faith as I have seen others reach out in love and
sympathy," he marvels.  And this Sunday, Russell Weston Sr. is
expected to be back in the choir loft of Zoar United Church of
Christ.
     The United Church of Christ has 1.4 million members in
some 6,000 local churches in the United States and Puerto Rico. 
It was formed by the 1957 union of the Congregational Christian
Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
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