Examples show how United Methodists in Shreveport, La., brought comfort and support to the community after a mass shooting in which eight children were killed. (Louisiana Conference Photo)
Louisiana Conference | April 28, 2026
In the early hours of Sunday, April 19th, a tragedy in Shreveport shattered families and sent shockwaves through the community. Eight children were killed, seven of them siblings, in what has become the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since January 2024.
At Linwood Public Charter School, the grief is especially heavy. Five of those children were students. Classrooms now carry absence. Teachers carry the weight. Students are left trying to understand the unimaginable.
And in the middle of it, the Church responded.
At Asbury United Methodist Church, the response began with a simple question: 'What can we do right now?'
Rev. Kelly Berne points to the church’s Director of Growth and Outreach, Angela Pfanner, and the relationships already in place as the starting point. In the hours after the tragedy, leaders from Asbury United Methodist Church, Simple Church, and Calvary Baptist Church began talking, not about a large plan, but about what could be done right away.
“It wasn’t complicated,” Berne said.
They started with something simple. Lunch for teachers and administrators, a way to care for those carrying the weight of the moment. Then, through an existing relationship, they reached out to Blue Bell Ice Cream, which quickly agreed to donate ice cream to the five impacted homerooms.
Organizers of Shreveport churches' response to a mass shooting include (L to R): Jessica Russo, Rev. Maddie Russo, J.P. and Mr. Schmid, Rev. Kelly Berne, Robyn Horton, Angela Pfanner. (Louisiana Conference Photo)
And then there were the notes.
Members of the congregations, including youth, sat down and began writing. Each student. Each teacher. Each administrator. Every person at the school would receive a handwritten message of encouragement.
It was, in many ways, an act of presence more than anything else.
For Berne, this kind of response reflects something deeper about how the church understands its role in the community.
"I love how Asbury always responds with 'yes'" she said. "There's just never doubt, there's never hesitation. Even when providing 800 cards, at the last minute seems like an impossible task, Asbury always makes sure it's possible. I'm just thankful that we are always ready to respond to be that beacon of light in the midst of darkness."
But Rev. Berne goes further, describing the Mission Team's posture as vital to the outcome. She says the goal was not to organize a large event or to draw attention; it was simply to be there, to stand alongside a grieving school in whatever ways were possible.
“The expectation is never trying to get them to come to us,” she said. “It’s how we can go to where the people in need are.”
"It's a default setting for us at Asbury," Pfanner said. "Our job is to go be the church and not to stay in the church."
One moment, in particular, has stayed with Rev. Berne.
As students began receiving the handwritten cards, one second-grade girl stopped, read her note, looked up, and said, “This was the God note that I needed today."
"There is no way to measure a moment like that, " Rev. Berne said, "But in a space filled with that kind of grief? It was something, and sometimes something is enough."
"This is kingdom work! God absolutely shows up in these moments," Pfaner said, "When we give out those hugs, hand out ice cream, write notes of love and compassion - all of it just gives them a glimpse of God. In a lot of ways, this is what we are called to do as disciples. It's why we go to church!"
Bishop Delores J. Williamston said her response to the moment was immediate.
“Even in the midst of my heart breaking, it is also leaping for joy,” she said, pointing to the way Asbury United Methodist Church and other Shreveport-area churches have responded.
“In my pastoral letter, I asked, ‘What are we willing to do?’ Friends, this is what it looks like! Disciples listening for the whisper of the Holy Spirit, compelled to be the hands and feet of Jesus, showing up in a time of need.”
The response has not stopped with ice cream and notes.
In partnership with Brentwood Hospital and the state of Louisiana, a pop-up clinic is now offering counseling and medical support to the community through May 4. Members of Asbury United Methodist Church, including those with backgrounds in counseling, nursing, and medicine, are stepping in to serve. The church is also helping provide meals and snacks for volunteers throughout the week.
It is a continuation of the same instinct that shaped the first response. To keep showing up. To stay present. To do what they can, as long as it is needed.
Before leaving Linwood Charter School on Monday, the group gathered with administrators, formed a circle, and prayed together, grounding themselves in something steady in the middle of so much that was not.
"We reminded one another of the breath in our lungs and a sun that always rises," Rev. Berne said. "God is always a steady constant with us, and in the midst of the biggest and most difficult tragedies of our lives, God is always there to offer light, to offer hope, to offer grace."
For Rev. Berne, that moment captured what it means to be the church in a time like this.
“It’s so important for us to always be aware of how the Holy Spirit nudges us to respond,” she said. “To go where there is a need and to just be a presence, a presence of hope, a presence of love, a presence of support.”
Todd Rossnagel is director of communications for the Louisana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. This article is republished with permission from the conference website.