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Neal Embry Starnes Media
A labyrinth at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church honors the three victims of the June 16, 2022 shooting: Bart Rainey, Jane Pounds and Sharon Yeager.
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Neal Embry Starnes Media
The Rev. John Burruss and the Right Rev. Glenda Curry speak at a press conference ahead of a service honoring the victims of the June 16, 2022 shooting at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church.
“In the midst of pain, I choose love.”
So begins the song, “I Choose Love,” written by Mark Miller and Lindy Thompson and most recently sung by a choir at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church on June 16, 2023.
Worshipers at Saint Stephen’s know well what it means to be in the midst of pain. On June 16, 2022, a shooter opened fire at a potluck dinner for older members in the church’s Parish Hall, killing three beloved members of the church: Bart Rainey, Sharon Yeager and Jane Pounds.
Since then, the church has received innumerable letters, cards and well-wishes, along with prayers, from people all around the world. The church is building a labyrinth that will be accessible to the public as well as church members, allowing visitors to walk around and spend time in reflection and prayer. Church leaders have spent time counseling church members, survivors and family members of the victims.
One year to the day after the shooting, the church gathered together to worship together, to honor the martyrs who gave their lives that night and to remind each other of the hope they share.
In the midst of all of their pain, the church choir sang, they chose love.
“In the midst of pain, sorrow falling down like rain, I await the sun again; I choose love.”
Rather than coming together to mourn, worshipers gathered to celebrate the faith of Rainey, Yeager and Pounds, whose love and hospitality for an outsider cost them their lives, said the Rev. John Burruss, rector at Saint Stephen’s.
“I have a new appreciation for holy women and holy men, because I’ve known three of them,” Burruss said.
At a press conference before the service, Burruss, joined by the Right Rev. Glenda Curry, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, said he is “extremely grateful” for the support of the community and misses his friends.
“It’s been a year of learning and of prayer,” he said.
Curry said God brings healing when there does not seem to be any.
Burruss said he is reminded that the group gathered for dinner that night was not alone in their experience, which was first seen in the life of the first disciples of Jesus Christ.
“Two thousand years ago, a group of people watched their friend be killed and they found life on the other side of it,” Burruss said. “This year has taught me that grief is real, loss is real, and yet there’s incredible hope when we turn to each other and we pray.”
Along with singing and the reading of scripture, worshipers took communion and were led throughout the service by Curry, who also blessed the labyrinth.
Those gathered heard a portion of the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, including the passage instructing Christians to not “repay anyone evil for evil,” but to instead feed and provide drink to their enemies.
About a month before the service, the shooter pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder. He was spared the death penalty by the families of the victims, who asked that he be given life in prison instead.
“It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,” Burruss said.
Rainey, Pounds and Yeager taught their fellow parishioners to “selflessly share” their life, about eternal life and more, Burruss said.
“They are at peace,” Burruss said, quoting the Book of Wisdom. “Their hope is full of immortality.”
Because of the hope of the gospel, Burruss said the church can gather in hope, in light and with joy.
“Despair is real, and joy can conquer it through the grace of God and our hope and trust in the Lord,” Burruss said.
The example left by Rainey, Yeager and Pounds has changed the church, he said.
“They have changed our faith, how we understand it, how we see the living Christ, to see the resurrection, the hope, the love that conquers despair,” Burruss said.
While no one can control violence, Burruss said the church can always “choose our response.” They can learn from the lives their friends lived and honor them by living like them, he said.
As worshipers left the service and headed toward the labyrinth — and refreshments — laughter and smiles filled the area just outside the Parish Hall, serving as a joyful reminder that evil does not have the last word.
