Chaplains Ministering in Kentucky After Deadly School Shooting

By   •   January 24, 2018

chaplain husband and wife teams hug and pray for each other
A total of 14 RRT chaplains deployed to the hurting community after Marshall County Judge Executive Kevin Neal requested their assistance to provide emotional and spiritual care. Among them are Mike Mattingly and David Hicks, along with their wives, Pookie Mattingly and Brenda Hicks. Here, they embrace after praying for each other beside the Mobile Ministry Center.

Two teenagers died Tuesday after a fellow student opened fire inside their high school. Several others were wounded in the chaos before the shooter was disarmed by deputies. The scene unfolded just before 8 a.m. local time at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky, about half an hour from Paducah.

With grief and shock reverberating throughout the small western Kentucky community, Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) chaplains are in the area to help support the ministry of local churches.

“The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains have been invited to come alongside the community to offer emotional and spiritual care following this tragic shooting,” said Josh Holland, assistant director for RRT.

A team of 10 crisis-trained chaplains is ministering in Benton, offering emotional and spiritual care to people who are reeling from the shooting. The RRT also sent a Mobile Ministry Center (MMC) to provide a welcoming respite for residents to visit and pray with chaplains.

According to news reports, the incident began in the high school’s common area before class started, sending dozens of students running to escape bullets. Authorities identified the two victims as Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, both 15.

Chaplains have most recently been serving in York, South Carolina, after four law enforcement officers were shot and one died while responding to a domestic violence call. Marshall County marks the second RRT deployment of 2018.

Please pray for Marshall County and all those shaken by this devastating event.