Good morning…
In addition to my weekday work as Women’s Ministry Director at Northside Church, I have joined my husband Steve on many Sundays as he has helped out a little Presbyterian church nearby. With their beloved pastor leaving, the small church family needed an ordained pastor to step into temporary gaps. As needed, he would pray and preach, lead communion and perform baptisms, offer pastoral care and guide the ministry to men. To get to know the congregation, we joined a small group and thoroughly enjoyed growing together with new friends through honest conversations.
Fast forward to now. The new pastor was chosen, and she has been thriving as the leader of this friendly, faithful church family. Yet it was very unusual to receive a email from her last night at 5:16 pm on a Wednesday. Here’s what she wrote.
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Prayer time tonight
Dear Kairos Family,
It is with profound sadness that I write to share heartbreaking news. This morning we learned that our longtime Kairos family member, Jessica Martin, died unexpectedly.
Our hearts are broken. We grieve alongside Sam, Effie, and Keith, and we hold them in our prayers as they begin to navigate this unimaginable loss. As a church family, we are certainly grieving too. Jessica was a beloved part of this community, and her impact on each of us is immeasurable.
On a day like today, we remember the words of the psalmist: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) While we may not have answers for our questions or words that can ease the pain, we trust that God is with us in our grief.
To provide a space for prayer, lament, and time to be together, the Kairos sanctuary will be open tonight at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome to join us as we pray for the Martin family and ask the Lord to hold our broken hearts.
Arrangements have not yet been made for a funeral, but we will share those as soon as they are determined.
Please continue to keep Sam, Effie, Keith, and all who loved Jessica in your prayers.
Much love,
Lyndsay
Lyndsay Lee Slocum
Lead Pastor
Kairos Church
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What? Jessica and her husband Sam were active members of our small group. She was young and vibrant, talented and sensitive, a mom of two elementary aged kids. Though I know she had journeyed with depression for a very long time, I was shocked by the devastating news.
So, I changed my plans and went to the 7:00 pm prayer time last night. We gathered. We hugged. We shared our disbelief. We told Jessica stories as we settled into the pews. The prayer service was moving, authentic and bonding. We read Scripture. We prayed aloud. In silence. In small groups. To meditative music. We prayed with heavy hearts, for Jessica, for Sam and the kids, for extended family members and her many dear friends.
By the end of the sacred time together, I was spend, exhausted, laden with overwhelming feelings. Following a nudge by the Holy Spirit, I drove out of the parking lot and straight up the street to knock on the door of a longtime Northside Church friend. Even though it was 8:30 pm, instinctively I knew I needed a huge hug from this soulful friend. Fortunately she was home with her daughter and husband. I melted into her arms and poured out the whole messy mixture of me. Coincidently, my friend lives in the same neighborhood as Jessica and Sam, and she had driven by in the morning when all the emergency vehicles were outside their home. So she knew, she knew of the immense tragedy, and she ministered to me in a very profound way.
Arriving home, I climbed in bed and ate a leftover salad dinner at 9:30 pm. Steve arrived home from the men’s book study he co-leads, and we further unpacked our response to the horrible tragedy.
Why do I share with you this heartbreaking story? Because I trust that you, as a community of prayer warriors, will lift into the healing light of our LORD all of those who are hurting, deeply grieving, wondering “God, how, just how, could you let this happen?”
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired…God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves…and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good (Romans 26-28, MSG).
I pray that the goodness of God will wrap up the wounded and gently carry all who are mourning.
…Sue…
