UNITE OUR CITY IN SUCH A TRYING MOMENT. WE ARE RIGHT AT THE CORNER OF FIFTH AND ROBINSON, WHERE THE ALFRED P MOORE BUILDING EXPERIENCED THE BLAST. LIKE SO MANY BUILDINGS IN DOWNTOWN, THE BLAST AT 902 ON APRIL 19TH, 1995 SHOOK THE FOUNDATIONS OF FIRST CHURCH, OKLAHOMA CITY, LEAVING DAMAGE, DEBRIS AND DEVASTATION. THIS IS THE FIRST SUNDAY IN 106 YEARS THAT A SERVICE HASN’T BEEN HELD ON THAT CORNER, AND IT’S QUITE EMOTIONAL FOR ME. THE BOMB BLAST BROKE ALL THE STAINED GLASS AND ALL THE PEWS. YOU CAN SEE THE PEWS HAD STAINED GLASS FROM THE CEILINGS AND THE WALLS ON THE PEWS. IT WAS ONLY 1998 THAT OUR CONGREGATION WAS ABLE TO WORSHIP IN THIS SANCTUARY AGAIN. THE PLACE OF WORSHIP TURNED INTO A MAKESHIFT MORGUE FOLLOWING THE TRAGEDY THAT CLAIMED SO MANY LIVES. BUT THE MOST PECULIAR THING FOR US DURING THE BOMBING IS THAT THE SANCTUARY SERVED AS A SAFE HAVEN WHERE THOSE FIRST RESPONDERS WHO FOUND PEOPLE WHO HAD DIED, THEY NEEDED A PLACE TO BRING THOSE BODIES. IT WAS A PLACE WHERE FAMILIES CAME TO IDENTIFY THEIR LOVED ONES WHO DIDN’T MAKE IT OUT ALIVE. AND THERE WERE 168 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 19 CHILDREN, THAT DIED THAT DAY. THREE MONTHS AFTER THE BLAST. RELIGION IS WHAT HELPED UNITE A HEARTBROKEN CITY. IT WAS JOINED TOGETHER WITH OTHER RELIGIONS, THE JEWISH FEDERATION AT THE TIME AND THE ISLAMIC SOCIETY AT THE TIME, JOINED FORCES WITH FIRST CHURCH TO BUILD THE HEARTLAND CHAPEL. JUST THREE MONTHS AFTER THE BOMBING TOOK PLACE, A PLACE TO WORSHIP ONCE AGAIN AS A SYMBOL OF HOPE. THE CHAPEL HAS NO WALLS SO THAT THERE’S NO DIVISION BETWEEN US. IT DOES HAVE A ROOF, BUT IT ALSO HAS MULTIPLE SYMBOLISMS OF THE AFROPEA MURRAH BUILDING. IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE BOMBING, THE LEAD PASTOR AT THE TIME STUMBLED ACROSS SOMETHING SOME MIGHT DESCRIBE AS A HEART STOPPING MOMENT. AND AS THERE WERE BEGINNING TO GATHER, THE STAINED GLASS, THE PASTOR AT THE TIME, HIS NAME IS NICK HARRIS. HE WAS WALKING AND HE FOUND A PIECE OF STAINED GLASS THAT HAD THE FACE OF JESUS IN IT, AND HE PICKED UP THAT PIECE OF GLASS AND SAID, EVEN IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS BROKENNESS, THE FACE OF JESUS IS STILL UNBROKEN. AND NOW THAT SAME PIECE OF GLASS IS MEMORIALIZED IN THE CHURCH, SHINING AS A BEACON OF HOPE. SO WE DECIDED TO BUILD THE STAINED GLASS THAT IS HERE BEHIND ME WITH THIS POWERFUL MESSAGE OF THE HOPE WE HAVE IN CHRIST, THAT EVEN THOUGH THERE’S SO MUCH BROKENNESS AND ALL OF US ARE WOUNDED PEOPLE, BUT CHRIST IS ONE THAT CAN
Oklahoma City church leader reflects on impact of Murrah Federal Building bombing
Like so many buildings in downtown Oklahoma City, the blast at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, shook the foundations of First Church OKC, leaving damage, debris and devastation.
Like so many buildings in downtown Oklahoma City, the blast at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, shook the foundations of First Church OKC, leaving damage, debris and devastation.>> Download the KOCO 5 app | Subscribe to KOCO 5’s YouTube channelWATCH FULL: KOCO Chronicle 30 Years of Resilience: Remembering the Oklahoma City Bombing“We are right at the corner of Fifth and Robinson, where the Alfred P. Murrah building experienced the blast,” said Josue Araujo, pastor of First Church.“This is the first Sunday in 107 years that a service hadn’t been held on that corner, and it’s quite emotional for me,” said the Rev. Nick Harris in an archived interview.“The bomb blast broke all the stained glass and all the pews, you could see the pews had stained glass from the ceilings and the walls on the pews,” Araujo said. “It was 1998 that our congregation was able to worship in this sanctuary again.”The place of worship turned into a makeshift morgue following the tragedy that claimed so many lives.“The most peculiar thing from the bombing was the sanctuary served as a safe haven, where those first responders who found people who had died, they needed a place to bring those bodies,” Araujo said.It was a place where families came to identify their loved ones who didn’t make it out alive.“There were 168 people, including 19 children, that died that day,” Araujo said.From the Archives: Looking back at chaos and raw emotion, fear following Oklahoma City bombingThree months after the blast, religion would help unite a heartbroken city.“It was joined together with other religions. The Jewish Federation at the time, and the Islamic Society at the time, joined forces with First Church to build the heartland chapel just three months after the bombing had happened,” Araujo said.It is now a place to worship once again.“As a symbol of hope. The chapel has no walls, so that there’s no division between us. It does have a roof, but it does have multiple symbolisms of the Alfred P. Murrah building,” Araujo said.In the days following the bombing, the lead pastor at the time stumbled across something some might describe as a heart-stopping moment.“As they were beginning to gather the stained glass, the pastor at the time, his name was Nick Harris, he was walking and he found a piece of stained glass with the face of Jesus in it,” Araujo said. “He picked up that piece of glass and said even in the midst of all this brokenness, the face of Jesus is still unbroken.”Get the latest news stories of interest by clicking here.And now that same piece of glass is memorialized in the church, shining as a beacon of hope.“We decided to go with the stain glass that is behind me, with this powerful message of the hope we have in Christ. That even though there’s so much brokenness in all of us, all the wounded people, Christ is one that can make us whole,” Araujo said.>> Scroll through the interactive graphic below to learn more about the victims.W2lmcmFtZSBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vaGVhcnN0dGVsZXZpc2lvbmRhdGFqb3VybmFsaXNtLmh0dmFwcHMuY29tL29rbGFob21hX21lbW9yaWFsL2luZGV4Lmh0bWwiIHNjcm9sbGluZz0ieWVzIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgc3R5bGU9IndpZHRoOiAwOyBtaW4td2lkdGg6IDEwMCUgIWltcG9ydGFudDsgYm9yZGVyOiBub25lOyIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAwcHgiXVsvaWZyYW1lXQ==Top HeadlinesTIMELINE: Severe storms bring hail and tornado risk to Oklahoma on FridayArmed robbery suspect arrested after employees found tied up at NW OKC fast food restaurantDrivers in Oklahoma furious after water found in gas pump2 dead, 6 hospitalized after Florida State shooting; suspect in custodyEmergency alerts, desks barricading doors: How the FSU shooting upended the campus
OKLAHOMA CITY —Like so many buildings in downtown Oklahoma City, the blast at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, shook the foundations of First Church OKC, leaving damage, debris and devastation.
>> Download the KOCO 5 app | Subscribe to KOCO 5’s YouTube channel
WATCH FULL: KOCO Chronicle 30 Years of Resilience: Remembering the Oklahoma City Bombing
“We are right at the corner of Fifth and Robinson, where the Alfred P. Murrah building experienced the blast,” said Josue Araujo, pastor of First Church.
“This is the first Sunday in 107 years that a service hadn’t been held on that corner, and it’s quite emotional for me,” said the Rev. Nick Harris in an archived interview.
“The bomb blast broke all the stained glass and all the pews, you could see the pews had stained glass from the ceilings and the walls on the pews,” Araujo said. “It was 1998 that our congregation was able to worship in this sanctuary again.”
The place of worship turned into a makeshift morgue following the tragedy that claimed so many lives.
“The most peculiar thing from the bombing was the sanctuary served as a safe haven, where those first responders who found people who had died, they needed a place to bring those bodies,” Araujo said.
It was a place where families came to identify their loved ones who didn’t make it out alive.
“There were 168 people, including 19 children, that died that day,” Araujo said.
From the Archives: Looking back at chaos and raw emotion, fear following Oklahoma City bombing
Three months after the blast, religion would help unite a heartbroken city.
“It was joined together with other religions. The Jewish Federation at the time, and the Islamic Society at the time, joined forces with First Church to build the heartland chapel just three months after the bombing had happened,” Araujo said.
It is now a place to worship once again.
“As a symbol of hope. The chapel has no walls, so that there’s no division between us. It does have a roof, but it does have multiple symbolisms of the Alfred P. Murrah building,” Araujo said.
In the days following the bombing, the lead pastor at the time stumbled across something some might describe as a heart-stopping moment.
“As they were beginning to gather the stained glass, the pastor at the time, his name was Nick Harris, he was walking and he found a piece of stained glass with the face of Jesus in it,” Araujo said. “He picked up that piece of glass and said even in the midst of all this brokenness, the face of Jesus is still unbroken.”
Get the latest news stories of interest by clicking here.
And now that same piece of glass is memorialized in the church, shining as a beacon of hope.
“We decided to go with the stain glass that is behind me, with this powerful message of the hope we have in Christ. That even though there’s so much brokenness in all of us, all the wounded people, Christ is one that can make us whole,” Araujo said.
>> Scroll through the interactive graphic below to learn more about the victims.
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