Guarding the sheep

Religion | Ten years after a Texas massacre, some churches are looking out for physical, as well as spiritual, safety | Mark Bergin

Lexey Swall/Genesis Photos

A decade ago Sept. 15, Larry Gene Ashbrook interrupted a youth prayer rally and concert with gunfire and tragedy. The disturbed middle-aged man strode through the doors of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, lit cigarette dangling from his mouth, and unloaded several rounds of ammunition from a pair of handguns. He killed seven people and wounded seven more before taking his own life with a bullet to the brain.

Wedgwood Baptist would never be the same. "We're still dealing with it," Pastor Al Meredith said on the cusp of the incident's 10-year anniversary.

Other churches are now beginning that same difficult journey. Murder has broached the doors of several congregations this year, including Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kan., where high-profile doctor George Tiller, a performer of late-term abortions, was gunned down while serving as an usher at a Sunday morning service.