wfn.org | May 3, 2000 GC-009

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Church offered healing after Oklahoma bombing, exec recalls

CLEVELAND (UMNS) - The tragedy that rocked Oklahoma City five years ago
brought a community together that was once fragmented, said a woman whose
husband was killed in the bombing.

In a poignant moment on the first full day of the 2000 General Conference,
church executive Anne Marshall told delegates and visitors how the 1995
bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building changed her life, and how
the United Methodist Church helped in the healing process that followed.

"On April 19, 1995, my life was changed forever," said Marshall, a member of
the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and a staff member of the United
Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns. "I lost
my best friend and spouse." Her husband, Raymond Johnson, a volunteer in the
Social Security Office, was one of the 168 killed by the bomb that destroyed
the building.

Sometimes tearful, Marshall described her late husband as a man who liked to
remain in the background helping people. She thought it ironic that his
place in the erected memorial garden is first row and in the center. The
bombed building was removed and a garden filled with chairs was erected to
"help with the healing and reconciliation of families."

The years since the bombing have been difficult, but Marshall said God has
provided her with numerous opportunities to fill the "void" in her life.
"Because of my church community, I have not walked alone. God has walked
through you."

The recent five-year anniversary ceremony of the bombing affected her
differently than previous commemorations, she said. The community is
changed, and a memorial has been erected that will help a community that was
once fragmented, she said.  

"I left with a sense of peace that I did not have before," she said. 

In the wake of the tragedy, something good occurred, she said. An institute
on domestic terrorism was established to try to ensure that such a bombing
does not happen again on American soil or anywhere else in the world.
"Oklahoma City became the model for mass destruction and how to respond to
that," Marshall said. 

In the midst of everything, Marshall said the church was present and will
remain there to help people become healed and reconciled through God's
grace.  

The 168 chairs of the memorial light up and can be seen from a distance, she
said. "It is a beautiful sight but also reminds us of the high loss we all
suffered."

Marshall voiced thanks for the support that she received following the
tragedy, particularly from Bishop Dan Solomon, who was bishop in Oklahoma at
the time of the bombing. She also thanked the church at large.

"As a member of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and a member of
the Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, you don't
know the impact you had on our lives with your quick response."

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     -- Linda Green

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United Methodist News Service
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