New Life Pastor Describes Gunman's Parents' Meeting With Victims' Parents

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- New Life Pastor Brady Boyd called the meeting "the highlight of my ministry," after watching the parents of the man who attacked his church be embraced by the parents of two teenage sisters who died in the attack.

"The four of them met and hugged and cried," said Boyd.

Ron and Loretta Murray, parents of Matthew Murray, traveled to Colorado Springs on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008, to the church.

They made the trip at the invitation of Boyd, an invitation the Murrays accepted immediately after it was made by a personal telephone call from Boyd the previous day.

Their visit began when Dr. and Mrs. Murray, accompanied by their son Christopher and by the family's pastor, Loretta's brother-in-law Pastor Philip Abeyta, arrived at the New Life campus, where they were greeted by Boyd and other members of the New Life pastoral staff.

As Boyd detailed the sequence of events that unfolded less than four weeks earlier, the Murrays were guided through the New Life campus. They visited the sites where Rachel and Stephanie Works were fatally wounded and other members of the congregation were injured.

Throughout the morning, Boyd offered to stop his narrative at any time if the Murrays found themselves unable to continue. However, the Murrays said they wanted to gain a more complete and first-hand understanding of exactly what took place at New Life Church and completed a thorough tour.

They wept at the site where the Works sisters were shot and at the site where Matthew Murray died.

Later in the day, they met with the Works family and with New Life security guard Jeanne Assam, who wounded Matthew in a gunfire exchange.

Many tears were shed as the two families embraced and again as the Murrays later embraced Assam, personally commending her for her courage and her swift, decisive action.

After they embraced, the Murrays and Pastors Boyd and Abeyta prayed with and for Assam . The Works and the Murrays then shared stories of their family lives.

The group had lunch and Boyd asked the Murrays to share some happier memories of Matthew. The emotional day ended with Boyd extending an invitation to the Murrays to return to New Life at any time.

"Words cannot adequately express our deep, deep gratitude to David and Marie Works, Pastor Brady Boyd, Jeanne Assam, and the entire New Life Church family. God is good and our entire experience last Thursday was filled with His loving and healing presence.

"We also want to once again express our appreciation for the Johnson and Crouse families for receiving us in love last month together with everyone at Youth With A Mission and the New Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada. The depth of our sorrow and our grief is greater than we can possibly describe. But with thanks to God, these remarkable families and their pastors and churches, healing and reconciliation have begun. We are committed to finding a way to move forward in the service of the Lord and our community. Our family is united around one main goal: to dedicate ourselves to using our lives and the power of Christian forgiveness to honor these four precious young people -- Rachel and Stephanie Works, Tiffany Johnson and Philip Crouse."

On Sunday, Jan. 6, Body spoke for several minutes about these meetings to the congregation at New Life Church. His remarks are posted on the New Life Web site.

He referred to the meetings as "the most significant ministry moment of my entire life" and "testimony that God can restore and redeem."