The parents of shooter Matthew Murray, Ron and Loretta Murray, issued this new release after meeting with Pastor Brady Boyd at New Life Church last week.
Ron and Loretta Murray, parents of Matthew Murray, traveled to Colorado Springs on Thursday, January 3, 2008 to visit New Life Church. They made the trip at the invitation of New Life Pastor Brady Boyd, an invitation Ron and Loretta humbly and gratefully accepted immediately after it was made by a personal telephone call from Pastor Boyd the previous day. Their visit began at 11 am when Dr. and Mrs. Murray, accompanied by their son Christopher and by the family’s pastor, Loretta’s brother-in-law Pastor Philip Abeyta, arrived at the New Life campus where they were greeted warmly by Pastor Brady Boyd and other members of the New Life pastoral staff. As Pastor Boyd detailed the tragic sequence of events that unfolded on less than four weeks earlier, Ron and Loretta were guided through the New Life campus. They visited the sites where Rachel and Stephanie Works were fatally wounded and other members of the congregation were injured. Throughout the morning, Pastor Boyd offered to stop his narrative at any time if the Murrays found themselves unable to continue. However, Ron and Loretta wanted to gain a more complete and first-hand understanding of exactly what took place at New Life Church and completed a thorough tour. They wept at the site where Rachel and Stephanie Works were shot and at the site where their son died.
Later in the day, they met with the Works family and with New Life security guard, Jeanne Assam, who wounded Matthew in a gunfire exchange. Many tears were shed as the two families embraced and again as Ron and Loretta Murray later embraced Jeanne Assam, personally commending her for her courage and her swift, decisive action. After they embraced, Ron, Loretta and Pastors Boyd and Abeyta prayed with and for Jeanne Assam. The Works and the Murrays then shared stories of their family lives. The group had lunch and Pastor Boyd asked the Murrays to share some happier memories of Matthew. The emotional day ended with Pastor Boyd extending an invitation to Ron and Loretta to return to New Life at any time.
“Words cannot adequately express our deep, deep gratitude to David and Marie Works, Pastor Brady Boyd, Jeanne Assam, and the entire New Life Church family. God is good and our entire experience last Thursday was filled with His loving and healing presence. We also want to once again express our appreciation for the Johnson and Crouse families for receiving us in love last month together with everyone at Youth With A Mission and the New Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada. The depth of our sorrow and our grief is greater than we can possibly describe. But with thanks to God, these remarkable families and their pastors and churches, healing and reconciliation have begun. We are committed to finding a way to move forward in the service of The Lord and our community. Our family is united around one main goal: to dedicate ourselves to using our lives and the power of Christian forgiveness to honor these four precious young people – Rachel and Stephanie Works, Tiffany Johnson and Philip Crouse.”
NOTE:
On Sunday, January 6, Pastor Brady Body spoke for several minutes about these meetings to the congregation at New Life Church. His remarks are posted on the New Life website at
#. Click on the “Most Recent Sermon” audio link to the January 6 sermon. His comments are at the beginning, preceding his sermon.
He refers to Thursday’s meetings as “the most significant ministry moment of my entire life” and “testimony that God can restore and redeem.”
