USA: Blacksburg church service remembers the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting

Methodist church remembers victims of Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech. The United Methodist Church in the grief-stricken town of Blacksburg offered prayers on Sunday (April 22) for those killed last week in the massacre of 32 people just blocks away at Virginia Tech. Churchgoers packed the pews, some weeping quietly through his sermon. Photos of the 32 victims of gunman Seung-Hui Cho, 23, sat on windowsills around the church and pink balloons from the funeral the day before of Austin Cloyd, 18, were tied near the altar. The pastor said Cloyd's mother had been with him, organizing a church dinner, when news reached them that there had been a shooting on campus. Across the pretty college town of Blacksburg, churchgoers filed into sanctuaries for yet more prayer in the wake of the deadliest shooting spree in modern U.S. history, and the community prepared for the resumption of classes on Monday. More funerals are scheduled this week across the country and around the world for those killed -- who hailed from countries as diverse as Peru, Israel, Canada and India.

ITN Source | April 23, 2007

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