'Help us to forgive’: Georgia pastor prays for school shooter, family

“This young man and his family, they need our prayers.”

Pastor Frank Bernat’s church in Bethlehem, Georgia, sits just outside of Winder, the site of the school shooting last week that left four people dead and nine injured.

Bernat has been the senior pastor of Bethlehem First United Methodist Church for a decade and leads a congregation of roughly 1,000 people. Many of his congregants come from Winder, as the town of Bethlehem only has a population of 715. Some church members are students at Apalachee High School , located just five miles away, where the shooting took place.

Speaking with USA TODAY after a service on Sunday evening, Bernat said that he knew asking for prayers for the suspected shooter, 14-year-old Colt Gray and his father, wouldn’t be easy.

Colt Gray is charged with four counts of felony murder and will be tried as an adult. His father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

“I know that’s difficult for a lot of people. It’s difficult for me,” Bernat said. “This family is struggling with their own issues, whether that’s mental health or something else. But clearly there’s something going on that would cause a 14-year-old to act this way. He hadn’t been at that school but a few days.”

More details about the Gray family dynamic have emerged since the massacre last Wednesday. In an interview with The Washington Post, Colt Gray's aunt, Annie Brown, described a chaotic household rocked by abuse and addiction, leaving Colt “begging for help from everybody around him.”

‘God is in the redemption business’

Bernat, in part, sees the shooting as a reason to embrace faith. The pastor told USA TODAY that he believes people should pray when times are good – before tragedy strikes and not just in its aftermath.

“You don’t even call on God until something bad happens, right?” Bernat said. “And I’ve heard people say that, you know, 'why would God protect this political candidate and not these kids?' God’s not in that business. God is in the redemption business. He’s not always in the prevention business.”

The 200-year-old pews creaked beneath him as he added: “God can redeem the bad things in our life and bring something good from them.”

Focusing on faith

During the service, members of the congregation embraced one another while the pastor called for individual groups to stand and receive prayers: first the students of Apalachee High School, followed by their parents, then teachers. Some 30 people in the crowd rose to their feet.

A bell rang after Bernat read the name of each victim : Christian Angulo, Richard Aspinwall, Cristina Irimie, and Mason Schermerhorn.

Toward the closing of the service, Associate Pastor Beth Dickinson led the congregation in prayer for the community.

“Help us to forgive, lest bitterness and anger consume us as much as it seems it did them," Dickinson said. "Teach us to love in the midst of hate. Teach us to be agents for peace, rejecting violence.”

After the service, students were invited to the church’s fellowship hall for dinner. They could also speak with licensed crisis counselors that the church brought in.

Fifteen-year-old Elijah Rivera, a sophomore at Apalachee High School, stopped to speak with USA TODAY before a comforting meal of brisket, macaroni and cheese, and sweet tea.

Rivera was close enough to the suspect on Wednesday to hear the gunshots ring out. He and his classmates “jumped into fight or flight” and took cover in a back room.

He said the experience has made him refocus on his faith.

“Growing up, I’ve always been Christian. But I’ve never been too out there about it. I’ve never sprayed out Bible verses,” Rivera said. “But after this situation, I’ve really started to strengthen my connection with God.”

Melissa Cruz is an elections reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at mcruz@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Help us to forgive’: Georgia pastor prays for school shooter, family