We are ‘quite shaken’ but leaning on Jesus Christ, each other and Grand Blanc

GRAND BLANC, Michigan — Monday here proved as unfathomable as Sunday, when more than 100 men, women and children ran for their lives while watching members of their congregation gunned down and their church burn to the ground.

Another bright, sunny Michigan fall day dawned with questions about how grief-stricken members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints press forward after four of their own were killed and eight others wounded.

Sunday had begun for Latter-day Saints as a day to mourn and reflect on the wonderful life of their beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, who died Saturday night at the age of 101. Instead it spiraled into shock.

“As you might expect, our members are quite shaken in spirit and in body, and it hurts,” Grand Blanc Bishop Jeffrey Schaub said in a video released Monday.

“These are the types of situations you don’t think you can carry,” he added. “And I don’t think alone any of us can.”

Many members of the Grand Blanc Ward were suffering and still scared Monday as they clung to each other and their privacy, but they definitely weren’t alone.

The strengthening support went far beyond the welcome #WeAreGB message board outside Grand Blanc High School.

Love and caring arrived from God, each other, church headquarters, people of other faiths and, yes, thoughts and prayers from around the world.

“Outside the obvious assistance the Lord is providing, I have felt a tremendous outreach,” Bishop Schaub said. “I feel that love. I know that people around the world are praying for our ward and our families, and I am so grateful for that. It’s the most significant time of my life where I have felt the love and prayers of other people.”

The Grand Blanc ward and stake councils met Monday morning to consider the needs of the four families who lost ward members, the other victims of gunshot wounds and smoke inhalation and the others suffering trauma.

“The amount of unity and love that has been shown within our congregation from ward member to ward member is truly a testament of our Lord, Jesus Christ,” Bishop Schaub said. “It is only through him that we can love so deeply through times like this.”

He said requests for help sent to members of the ward and the Grand Blanc Stake were taken up seconds after they were sent.

“To see people — everybody has dropped everything,” he said. “This is a true ward family at this point. We are caring for mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, they’re all of ours at this point.”

They also learned that the church’s current leader, President Dallin H. Oaks, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was mourning with them.

“The awful tragedy that took place in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on Sept. 28, reminds us of our sacred responsibilities as followers of Jesus Christ,” President Oaks said in a social media message. “We mourn with our members who have lost loved ones, and we join in prayer for comfort with others around the world who are suffering from similar tragedies.”

Trauma counselors from church headquarters in Salt Lake City and the surrounding region arrived and began to meet with members of the Grand Blanc Ward and other Latter-day Saint congregations in surrounding cities who evacuated their meetings Sunday as they learned of the attack.

“There’s some survivor’s guilt,” said Becca Jones of the Flint Ward.

The biggest relief Monday came courtesy of law enforcement investigators, who announced at a noon press conference that they no longer feared more victims had died inside the church because they had accounted for all Grand Blanc Ward members.

Still, at least two ward members remained in critical condition due to gunshot wounds, said Dr. Michael Danic, the medical chief of staff at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital.

By early evening, it was clear the tragedy still captivated the nation. More than 20 TV crews were doing stand-ups at the Michigan State Police roadblock just west of the church on McCandlish Road.

Drones spun and whined overhead.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church of the Holy Family and Faith Lutheran Church offered their chapels to the Latter-day Saints.

The sign outside Faith Lutheran also carried a new message:

“Hatred will not win. God is here. Love your neighbor.”

Connie Green attended a vigil for the Grand Blanc victims Monday night at Faith Lutheran, where she has been a member for 29 years.

“Devastated,” she said. “I have friends who are LDS. You never think this will happen here. I really have no words but ‘evil.’”

Tears filled her eyes repeatedly and her voice trembled with emotion as she spoke with the Deseret News.

“They are the nicest people,” she said of Grand Blanc’s Latter-day Saints. “They delivered meals to me in 2020 when I was in chemotherapy — people from their women’s organization who I didn’t know.

“We’re called to love our neighbor, and they loved me. I want to love them back.”

Green said her Latter-day Saint friends say they are fine, but she feels called to action.

“I think they’re scared,” she said kindly and softly. “We as Christians want to help. We’re here for them, long-term.”

Green was scared Monday, too.

“Between schools and churches, you should feel safe,” she said, “and when this happens, you don’t feel safe. That’s why it was important for me to come here tonight. I’m not gonna let the darkness put that fear in me that I can’t do these things.

“Faith over fear.”

Faith Lutheran worshipers said three types of prayers for their Latter-day Saint neighbors at the vigil, said Pastor Jeff Heimsoth.

The first was for those whose pain they couldn’t fathom. The second was that hatred, even for the killer, Thomas Jacob Sanford, is not a solution. The third was, “If you’re going to pray, you have to be the answer to prayer.”

Of the Latter-day Saints, Pastor Heimsoth said, “Those are our neighbors.”

Sanford’s father, also named Thomas Sanford, issued an apology Monday.

“I feel terrible about all the families that have been hurt, and they’re under the same crap that I’m going under, that my wife and I are going under,” the father told the Detroit Free Press. “I apologize for that.”

“The only thing I can say is that it was my son that did it,” he said. “As far as why? Irrelevant. It happened. We’re dealing with it. It’s been a nightmare.”

Grand Blanc Stake President Marcelino Sanchez has told church members that the community has flooded Latter-day Saints with offers of support, said Brandt Malone, second counselor in the Lake Orion Ward bishopric.

Bishop Schaub said he’s been uplifted by the outreach from other faiths.

“It was very humbling to see how much good there is in the world today,” he said, “and that above all, we are all children of the same Father in Heaven, and we love each other.”

He called it inspiring.

President Oaks and Bishop Schaub also emphasized the role Christ plays in healing broken and wounded hearts.

“Our Savior Jesus Christ, through his infinite Atonement, overcame death and gives us the joyful assurance that each of us will be gloriously resurrected,” President Oaks said. “On behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I extend this expression to the family and friends of those affected by this recent tragedy and all others who may be experiencing loss and heartache at this time.”

Bishop Schaub said he knows Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are aware of the challenges facing the Grand Blanc Ward family.

“I know that through our Savior Jesus Christ, we can find joy again,” he said. “I know that with his help, there can be healing and I know as we focus on him, we can have joy.

“These are hard times. This is the largest trial any of us likely will ever endure in Grand Blanc, but I know that he has overcome all.”