Church unites in sorrow for two lost
Posted on 02/03/2003 3:15:56 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Church unites in sorrow for two lost
Houston congregation sheds tears, raises voices in song
02/03/2003
HOUSTON - The singers in the Grace Community Church chorus normally beam when they're belting out praises to the Lord. But Sunday, they clutched tissues as they tried to hold back tears.
When space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas skies Saturday, it hit particularly hard at Grace Community. Two of the seven astronauts killed - shuttle commander Rick Husband and payload commander Michael Anderson - were members.
Col. Husband was also a longtime member of the baritone section of the chorus and had just recorded a solo on the choir's new CD, a song called "Before the Throne of God Above."
Before the first of three services Sunday, most of the 130 singers were crying in the rehearsal room. Their director, Roy Hansen, tried to bolster them, but it was too hard at times, said soprano Cindy Stelzer. The memories of Col. Husband, always happy and upbeat, were too strong, she said.
"One moment in time changes everything," senior pastor Steve Riggle told the congregation. "It's the difference between triumph and tragedy.
"Sixteen minutes, the difference between what took place yesterday and what would have been a great victorious mission."
Mr. Riggle said those words - tragedy and triumph - milled around in his head after he heard the news.
"The reality is, these two words go together," he said. "They go together especially in light of our community, because of man's quest to go where no man has gone before, to explore new frontiers."
The atmosphere in the church and the community resembled the pall that fell over the area of Clear Lake City in 1986 after Challenger exploded, Mr. Riggle said.
JIM MAHONEY / DMN Many in the Grace Community Church choir dabbed away tears during services, but the singers' voices rang clear as they later performed "Amazing Grace." |
"It was almost an unreal experience. People drove with their lights on. That same kind of thing grips our community now," he said.
The feelings at Grace Community and elsewhere in Houston were echoed Sunday in churches throughout the nation as ministers and congregants prayed and struggled to make sense out of the incomprehensible.
About 1,500 people attended two sanctuary services at Grace Community Church, and hundreds more came for a service held in the church gymnasium.
The sanctuary's balcony, usually empty, was full. Church members had to park on the streets because the parking lots were full.
During the services in the grandiose, white-pillared church with gold chandeliers hanging from high ceilings, many brushed tears away with tissues or their hands. In a row close to the front, two fathers hugged their boys and patted their shoulders.
It hurt to look up at the chorus and not see Col. Husband, some members said. The astronaut once flew back from an assignment in a T-38 jet so he could get to the church in time to sing for a Christmas service, said Richard Curtis, the church's head usher.
"He could juggle a lot of things," Mr. Curtis said. "He was like a duck on water. The feet would be paddling like crazy under water, but on the surface, it'd move calmly along."
Mr. Curtis said he and his wife visited Evelyn Husband, the commander's widow, on Saturday.
"We just hugged and were with her," he said.
JIM MAHONEY / DMN The associate pastor of the Houston church joined in a song Sunday. Columbia shuttle commander Rick Husband and payload commander Michael Anderson were members. |
Mr. Curtis was in Florida when the shuttle launched Jan. 16.
So was Nian Lening, whose husband taught Sunday school classes with Col. Husband. She and her husband were red-eyed during the services.
"It's a safe place. No words need to be spoken," Mrs. Lening said, crying a little as she spoke. "We all embrace and carry each others' joys and burdens."
During his sermon, Mr. Riggle spoke of both astronauts' passion for their faith, then showed videos of Lt. Col. Anderson and Col. Husband speaking about their determination to stay committed to their faith and families.
Being an astronaut was not as important as "trying to live my life the way God intended to. To be a good husband ... a good father," Col. Husband said on the video.
Before showing the videos, Mr. Riggle spoke of Lt. Col. Anderson and said, "Mike talked about the challenge of life, but he talked about something more." Then he played the video of Lt. Col. Anderson thanking the congregation for its prayers and saying he and Col. Husband wanted to get the message out about their faith.
JIM MAHONEY / DMN In an interview shown Sunday, Col. Husband said being an astronaut was not as important as "trying to live my life the way God intended to. To be a good husband ... a good father." |
At the conclusion of the final service, Mr. Riggle led the chorus in singing "Amazing Grace." By then, the singers all had tossed their tissues behind them, Mrs. Stelzer said. Their voices echoed throughout the church.
Their grief was duplicated throughout the community.
Outside the Johnson Space Center, people were coming in droves to stand vigil at the entrance sign, where many had set up a makeshift memorial the day before. By late Sunday afternoon, there were hundreds of flowers, signs, stuffed animals, balloons and people.
"It's a spiritual thing," said Patsy Linscomb, who drove from her church in Texas City to the space center. "We wanted to come over here and pray for the families."
E-mail lwertheimer@dallasnews.com
During his sermon, Mr. Riggle spoke of both astronauts' passion for their faith, then showed videos of Lt. Col. Anderson and Col. Husband speaking about their determination to stay committed to their faith and families.Being an astronaut was not as important as "trying to live my life the way God intended to. To be a good husband ... a good father," Col. Husband said on the video.
Before showing the videos, Mr. Riggle spoke of Lt. Col. Anderson and said, "Mike talked about the challenge of life, but he talked about something more." Then he played the video of Lt. Col. Anderson thanking the congregation for its prayers and saying he and Col. Husband wanted to get the message out about their faith.
At the conclusion of the final service, Mr. Riggle led the chorus in singing "Amazing Grace." By then, the singers all had tossed their tissues behind them, Mrs. Stelzer said. Their voices echoed throughout the church.
Singing forever now.
Many prayers for loved ones of all the Columbia astronauts.
How eerily prescient! Well, he's been before that Throne, and now he's singing with the choirs of angels!
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