New Problems for ELCA Member Wounded in Littleton Shooting

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Ann Marie Hochhalter, a 17-year-old junior at Columbine High School, Littleton, Colo., faces the possibility of paralysis in her legs, the result of a spinal cord injury from a gunshot wound to the chest she suffered in a massacre April 20 at the school.
Hochhalter is a member of Christ Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in Highlands Ranch, Colo. Her condition was upgraded from critical to serious over the weekend, said the Rev. David J. Jensen, Hochhalter's pastor. She remains in the intensive care unit at Swedish Hospital in Englewood, Colo., and it appears her life is no longer in danger, Jensen said.
Hochhalter is awake and able to communicate, he said. "She is very cognizant of what happened to her," said Jensen.
Tests revealed the spinal cord injury, and the family was told this past weekend, Jensen said, and, with the consent of the family, he informed the congregation. The family's spirits remain good, though Jensen said he "can't imagine the emotional rollercoaster they're on."
Help has come in many forms, Jensen said. Federal and state officials have pledged to help meet any of the Hochhalter family needs, and a trust fund is being established to help with Ann Marie's long-term health needs, he added. Many people have called Christ Lutheran Church to inquire about her condition.
"This event has impacted the city and the nation in an incredible way," said Jensen. A dozen trained counselors from Lutheran Family Services of Colorado were available at Christ Lutheran, April 25, he said.
Meanwhile, ELCA pastors have officiated at services for two students who died at Columbine. The Rev. Donald J. Marxhausen, St. Philip Lutheran Church, Littleton, presided at a memorial service April 24 for Dylan Klebold, 17, one of the two alleged gunmen. The Klebolds were once members at St. Philip. The Rev. John T. Conrad, interim pastor at Joy Lutheran Church, Parker, Colo., presided at the April 27 service for Corey Depooter, 17.
Depooter was not a member at Joy. Conrad was asked to officiate at the student's service after he met the boy's mother the day of the shootings at an elementary school near Columbine. Conrad said the mother was once a Lutheran church member but apparently had not attended any church in recent years.
"There are a large number of families impacted by this that really have no church home," Conrad said.
About a dozen people, mostly family and friends, attended Klebold's memorial service at a funeral home, Marxhausen said. The family is devastated and in "great despair" over the loss of their son and the shootings, Marxhausen said. He described his first in-person meeting with the Klebold family and Dylan's friends as a "grief support session," he said.
"We all just needed to talk," he said.
In his eulogy for Dylan, Marxhausen concentrated on God's love and healing power.
"God, who knows about suffering and pain and loss, wants to reach out to you," he said. "God, who raises up and lifts up after the journey through the valley, will do so in time and in surprising ways."
"Some people will run from you, but there will be others who will come to you," he said. "There is God's mercy and there is the mercy of others. True enough there will be those who do not know grace and will want to give only judgment. But God will reach out to you through those who know his grace."
"I have no idea how you are going to heal. God still wants to reach out to you and will always reach out to you in some way. Please be open to that reality," Marxhausen said.
Volunteers continue to help at St. Philip, answering some 150 phone calls a day to the church and helping with twice-a-day grief support sessions, Marxhausen said.
Abiding Hope Lutheran Church, Littleton, is preparing to open its doors to Columbine students who will return to a nearby school, Chatfield High School, to finish the school year, said the Rev. Rick Barger. Because of the number of students involved, the school day is expected to be split into a morning session for Chatfield students and an afternoon session for Columbine students. Abiding Hope will provide meals and a place for the students to be during the morning hours, Barger said.
"This situation is the saddest thing anybody can possibly imagine," Barger said. While none of Abiding Hope's members who work at or attend Columbine were killed or injured, "some are incredibly, emotionally shaken," he said.
The congregation continues to respond with regular grief counseling sessions each day, Barger added.
Denver-area pastors are hosting a "care for the caregivers" support session for pastors heavily involved in the response in Littleton, said Madelyn Busse, assistant to the bishop, ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver. Retired pastors and campus pastors have contacted the synod offering help, she said.

Updates of the synod's response are available
on the World Wide Web at www.rmselca.org.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html