Lutherans offer Christ’s comfort after Iowa school shooting

Residents of Perry Lutheran Homes in Perry, Iowa, make prayer crosses for distribution to community members impacted by a Jan. 4 shooting at Perry High School. (Photo courtesy of Perry Lutheran Homes)

By Cheryl Magness

On the morning of Jan. 4, in Perry, Iowa, a student at Perry High School entered a hallway at the school and shot eight people — including five students and three staff members — before killing himself. Two of the victims would later succumb to their injuries: a sixth-grade student from the adjoining middle school, who died the same day, and the school principal, who died 10 days later.

In the devastating wake of the shooting, many in the community came together to care for those affected. Among them, two congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) joined with two LCMS Recognized Service Organizations (RSOs) to provide Gospel hope and healing to the suffering.

One of the RSOs, Perry Lutheran Homes in Perry, Iowa, is a senior-living community with three campuses. One of the campuses also houses Acorns & Oaks Christian Academy, an intergenerational child care center in which “acorns” (children) and “oaks” (senior adults) are able regularly to interact in ways that are beneficial to both age groups.

On the morning of the shooting, because of its proximity to the school building, the Perry Lutheran Homes Eden Acres campus became a safe place for children and teachers to shelter while waiting to reunite with their families. At the request of Perry Lutheran Homes staff, Christian counselors from Lutheran Family Service — also an RSO — were deployed (one in person and one virtually) within hours after the shooting to help parents, students and others process the day’s trauma and be reminded of Christ’s love.

Among the staff of Perry Lutheran Homes, one employee was directly affected, as her son was among those shot. He suffered nine bullet wounds, two of which caused a fractured femur and wrist, but he survived. In the aftermath of the shooting, Perry Lutheran Homes staff members provided their co-worker and her family with meals, assisted with expenses and offered their support and prayers.

Also involved in the response were two nearby LCMS congregations: Christ Lutheran Church, Bouton, and Zion Lutheran Church, Ogden. On the afternoon of the shooting, pastoral staff from both churches led prayer services at the three Perry Lutheran Homes campuses, inviting residents, staff, parents, children and community members to attend. In addition, with school not in session, Acorns & Oaks offered drop-in service for parents who needed emergency child care.

The Rev. Max Phillips, pastor of Christ, Bouton, and CEO of Perry Lutheran Homes, said the prayer services were a way to “bring the peace of Christ into a chaotic and deadly day” — one in which “God’s Word and comfort were urgently needed.”

Crosses of comfort

In the weeks since the shooting, the response has continued as residents, staff and volunteers at Perry Lutheran Homes embarked on a project to make approximately 1,500 royal-blue-and-white prayer crosses to deliver to students, faculty, impacted families, first responders and others. (Blue and white are the colors of the Perry public schools.)

Residents, staff and volunteers from all three Perry Lutheran Homes campuses, as well as children and staff from Acorns & Oaks, took part in making the crosses, which were formed from polymer clay before being painted, baked and glazed. Each cross bears its maker’s fingerprints, with no two crosses exactly alike. Each cross also has a blue tag with a poem about finding comfort in Christ at difficult times.

On Feb. 15, the crosses were delivered to families impacted by the shooting; to Perry’s elementary, middle and high schools; and to Perry-area emergency personnel who were involved in the initial response to the shooting. In addition, individual care baskets with blankets, activity books, prayer crosses, snacks and other items were made and delivered to family members of those wounded or killed.

Mollie Clark, director of marketing for Perry Lutheran Homes, said, “While the Jan. 4 school shooting may no longer be in the headlines, the heartbreaking reality remains in everyone’s hearts and minds. All of us at Perry Lutheran Homes want to convey our continued love and support to the families, students and staff, as well as the heroes who responded. We continue to hold them all close in our prayers.”

Ned Menke, principal of Perry Middle School, thanked Perry Lutheran Homes for being “a place of refuge for many of our students and staff the morning of the shooting.”

Perry Deputy Fire Chief Matt Hix said, “We really appreciate the support and are grateful to receive these crosses from everyone at Perry Lutheran Homes.”

Over the last decade, the Perry Lutheran Homes prayer cross ministry has resulted in the distribution of over 10,000 crosses in various locations in Iowa, the nation and even Haiti.

“Perry Lutheran Homes thank its incredible residents, staff, partners and volunteers for helping to make these special #PerryStrong crosses. We are also grateful to Polyform for the donation of Sculpey clay and to Wilcox Printing & Publishing in Madrid, Iowa, for the custom-made #PerryStrong prayer cross tags,” Clark said.

For more information about Perry Lutheran Homes, visit perrylutheranhomes.org.

For more information about Lutheran Family Service, visit lutheranfamilyservice.org .

Posted March 6, 2024