I think I can honestly say that yesterday (February 1, 2022) was the most unusual day I’ve had in 30+ years of pastoral ministry.  And that’s saying a lot!

It all started around 7:30 AM when our staff text group started buzzing.  I was brushing my teeth preparing to leave for the church when my phone exploded with multiple text notifications… ding, ding, ding…. Gwen, our children’s ministry director and Diane our bookkeeper were trying to get to the church, but every road was blocked by police barricades.  All traffic was being re-routed.  Now, of course, Bethany sits at a very busy intersection and there have been many serious accidents.  So, I was kind of assuming that a very bad car accident had occurred.

Then word came that Diane had gotten through and Chief McCarthy from the East Earl police department had requested access to the church.  When I heard this, I immediately drove over to see if I could give her a hand.  After talking my way through two checkpoints, I arrived at the church to a frenzy of activity.  The church parking lot was mobbed with at least 20 law enforcement vehicles- Berks County sheriffs, Lancaster County police, State police, K-9 units, a forensics van, even United States Marshalls and a WGAL-TV van was in the school parking lot across the street.  Yellow caution tape wrapped around the house opposite the church and extended across the road onto the church property, where a minivan with a shot out windshield sat. When I entered the lobby, our café area was packed with police warming themselves and sipping coffee, while Diane was busy refilling cups, brewing coffee and wiping down countertops.   On the coffee bar was a small pile of toasted bagels provided by Ranck’s Restaurant in Bowmansville. The wall was lined with bulky bullet-proof camouflage vests laden with gear.

The officers were pretty tightlipped, and I wasn’t asking any questions, but I came to find out that a tactical group had met in a nearby field at 5 AM. They were attempting to serve a warrant to a violent fugitive who was holed up in the house across the street.  Things went sideways, shots were fired, and the perpetrator had been taken to the hospital, so the crime scene was now an active investigation.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/officers-shot-man-who-threw-cement-bricks-threatened-them-with-blow-torch-during-warrant-service/article_d85cd704-8369-11ec-82e7-4b4566aa79f1.html

https://www.wgal.com/article/east-earl-township-lancaster-county-police-incident/38950119

About this time, Chief McCarthy asked if the family who lived in the house could take refuge at the church as well.  All of this had gone down in the early morning when they had been hastily evacuated.  Apparently, they sat in a squad card for several hours.  I was introduced to Billy, Linda and their 5-year-old daughter Tracy (not their real names).  We ushered the family into our church nursery where Tracy could be distracted and the parents rest while they awaited their turn to be debriefed and share what happened.  The family had left the house in such a hurry that little Tracy didn’t even have socks and shoes.  At Gwen’s direction, we found a pair of socks among the prizes she stashes in her office.  The family looked distraught and exhausted.

Then Chief McCarthy asked if they could use the church as a kind of command post while the investigation unfolded.  They set up in 4 different rooms- the library, room 208, the counseling and conference room to question and debrief every person who had been involved or seen anything that happened.  Some of the tactical team was exhausted so we opened the auditorium so they could sleep on the padded benches while they waited.

At about 9:30 AM I realized that we were going to be here for a long time.  And I asked the chief if we could get some sandwiches for the men.  The guys were well into their 8^th pot of coffee and the hot chocolate was going fast, but I knew they could use something more substantial.  So, in no time we had 20 large hoagies cut into quarters with all the fixings on the side, two boxes of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, 3 gallons of iced tea from Eby’s store and 3 dozen Sunnyside donuts sitting on a table.  As I watched, I was able to confirm a suspicion I had always had. It’s not a stereotype- police really do like donuts.

The whole time, the efforts at the church were supported by local volunteer fire police.  These guys were amazing. There were six checkpoints established to reroute traffic around the church and they had been out there for hours.  So, we brewed a pot of coffee and hot water and took the hot beverages, a box of sandwiches and donuts out to the guys on the perimeter. They looked really cold and gratefully received some refreshments.

When I got back, Diane had been sitting with Tracy, while her parents were called out. She also had slipped over to have prayer with Linda, who was completely overwrought. Her mom was in the hospital in a coma and the perpetrator who was a relative had stolen her van which now sat shot up and crashed against the church guardrail.  A major source of income for the family is Linda driving for the plain community as an independent contractor. And that was the van she uses.  I also had an opportunity to speak at length with the family and bring them some food.  As serious and traumatic as things were, little Tracy was having a blast playing in the nursery and “sneaking up” on Diane and me in our offices to try to “scare” us or just chat.  She said, “I like it here.” I described to her what we did here on Sunday and took her on a little tour of the preschool wing.  She looked expectantly at her mom and Linda said, “Well, I guess we found our church!” They hope to come on Sunday, and I think Tracy will hold them to it.

Soon a detective arrived to examine the video footage captured by the exterior church cameras.  Curtis and Wally took off work to come over and assist.  They viewed and downloaded it as evidence for the D.A. Throughout the morning investigators took hundreds of pictures and gathered bags of evidence from the scene.

As thing finally began to wind down, I shook many hands and received a warm “Thank You” from each department head and the assistant D.A.  After they thanked me, I had the same response:  “No, thank YOU for your service.  We never get an opportunity to truly express our thanks to those who serve.  So, this is the least we can do.” And I meant it.  These were truly some of the finest public servants I have ever seen.  Under tremendous stress every day they make life and death decisions and serve our community.  They were completely thorough and professional in everything they did.

As I locked the church at the end of the day and the sun was setting, the chief was still there with about 4 or 5 investigators. As I drove home, I had a lot to think about.

A few weeks ago, at our elder retreat we went through an exercise in which each elder wrote down future hopes and dreams for Bethany.  We examined our church’s strengths and weaknesses and sought to discern where our chief shepherd Jesus might be leading us in the future.  Do you know what was our #1 weakness and corresponding hope? “Community Impact.”  We hunger for Bethany to truly reach out, to have a reputation as a welcoming church, to effectively engage anyone who comes through our doors, to intentionally reach out to the lost with the gospel and to become known as a community resource for those in need. As our vision statement reads, we want to be a thriving church that imitates Christ, impacts community for eternity, and is the unified body of Christ. Little did we know that God was going to give us a major opportunity so soon.

God is doing a new thing at Bethany, and this is just a beginning. I believe that God is sending us a few tough situations and a few needy families to pressure test our resolve and watch our response.  Are we really willing to open the doors and welcome the community?  Are we really ready to reach the lost and help the hurting?  It will be messy, costly, and stressful at time.  It will rock our religious bubble and stretch us to really love as God loves.  We must trust that God is the One doing the work and He will bring it to completion in his timing (Philippians 1:6).

I think we’re ready!