The former pastor at the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church where a gunman opened fire a week ago says the first service since the worst mass shooting in Texas history is the most attended in the congregation’s 100-year history. Former Pastor Mark Collins said the First Baptist Church “is still alive” and is encouraging people to give themselves to Christ. He said those who died would want those supporting
them now to stand up and give themselves to Christ. Collins said there is hope, saying it’s only been seven days since the shooting and “already this community is back to worship, bound together by faith.”Organizers set up hundreds of folding chairs under a large white tent on a baseball field in Sutherland Springs for the first Sunday service since the shooting, which killed more than two-dozen people. Church officials had expected about 500 people to attend, but dozens of more chairs were added. READ MORE
