wfn.org | New Problems for ELCA Member Wounded in Littleton Shooting

[NEWS <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 27, 1999

NEW PROBLEMS FOR ELCA MEMBER WOUNDED IN LITTLETON SHOOTING
99-112-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Ann Marie Hochhalter, a 17-year-old junior at
Columbine High School, Littleton, Colo., faces the possibility of
paralysis in her legs, the result of a spinal cord injury from a gunshot
wound to the chest she suffered in a massacre April 20 at the school.
     Hochhalter is a member of Christ Lutheran Church, a congregation
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in Highlands
Ranch, Colo.  Her condition was upgraded from critical to serious over
the weekend, said the Rev. David J. Jensen, Hochhalter's pastor.  She
remains in the intensive care unit at Swedish Hospital in Englewood,
Colo., and it appears her life is no longer in danger, Jensen said.
     Hochhalter is awake and able to communicate, he said.  "She is
very cognizant of what happened to her," said Jensen.
     Tests revealed the spinal cord injury, and the family was told
this past weekend, Jensen said, and, with the consent of the family, he
informed the congregation.  The family's spirits remain good, though
Jensen said he "can't imagine the emotional rollercoaster they're on."
     Help has come in many forms, Jensen said.  Federal and state
officials have pledged to help meet any of the Hochhalter family needs,
and a trust fund is being established to help with Ann Marie's long-term
health needs, he added.  Many people have called Christ Lutheran Church
to inquire about her condition.
     "This event has impacted the city and the nation in an incredible
way," said Jensen.       A dozen trained counselors from Lutheran Family
Services of Colorado were available at Christ Lutheran, April 25, he
said.
     Meanwhile, ELCA pastors have officiated at services for two
students who died at Columbine.  The Rev. Donald J. Marxhausen, St.
Philip Lutheran Church, Littleton, presided at a memorial service April
24 for Dylan Klebold, 17, one of the two alleged gunmen.  The Klebolds
were once members at St. Philip. The Rev. John T. Conrad, interim pastor
at Joy Lutheran Church, Parker, Colo., presided at the April 27 service
for Corey Depooter, 17.
     Depooter was not a member at Joy.  Conrad was asked to officiate
at the student's service after he met the boy's mother the day of the
shootings at an elementary school near Columbine.  Conrad said the
mother was once a Lutheran church member but apparently had not
attended any church in recent years.
     "There are a large number of families impacted by this that really
have no church home," Conrad said.
     About a dozen people, mostly family and friends, attended
Klebold's memorial service at a funeral home, Marxhausen said.  The
family is devastated and in "great despair" over the loss of their son
and the shootings, Marxhausen said.  He described his first in-person
meeting with the Klebold family and Dylan's friends as a "grief support
session," he said.
     "We all just needed to talk," he said.
     In his eulogy for Dylan, Marxhausen concentrated on God's love and
healing power.
     "God, who knows about suffering and pain and loss, wants to reach
out to you," he said. "God, who raises up and lifts up after the journey
through the valley, will do so in time and in surprising ways."
     "Some people will run from you, but there will be others who will
come to you," he said. "There is God's mercy and there is the mercy of
others.  True enough there will be those who do not know grace and will
want to give only judgment.   But God will reach out to you through
those who know his grace."
     "I have no idea how you are going to heal.  God still wants to
reach out to you and will always reach out to you in some way.  Please
be open to that reality," Marxhausen said.
     Volunteers continue to help at St. Philip, answering some 150
phone calls a day to the church and helping with twice-a-day grief
support sessions, Marxhausen said.
     Abiding Hope Lutheran Church, Littleton, is preparing to open its
doors to Columbine students who will return to a nearby school,
Chatfield High School, to finish the school year, said the Rev. Rick
Barger.  Because of the number of students involved, the school day is
expected to be split into a morning session for Chatfield students and
an afternoon session for Columbine students.  Abiding Hope will provide
meals and a place for the students to be during the morning hours,
Barger said.
     "This situation is the saddest thing anybody can possibly
imagine," Barger said.  While none of Abiding Hope's members who work at
or attend Columbine were killed or injured, "some are incredibly,
emotionally shaken," he said.
     The congregation continues to respond with regular grief
counseling sessions each day, Barger added.
     Denver-area pastors are hosting a "care for the caregivers"
support session for pastors heavily involved in the response in
Littleton, said Madelyn Busse, assistant to the bishop, ELCA Rocky
Mountain Synod, Denver.  Retired pastors and campus pastors have
contacted the synod offering help, she said.

          Updates of the synod's response are available
          on the World Wide Web at www.rmselca.org.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html