Posted on 05/02/2005 1:52:06 PM PDT by madprof98
Wilbanks vigil: Congregation prayed and shared families' emotions throughout ordeal
When Jennifer Wilbanks was first reported missing last week, the congregation at Peachtree Corners Baptist Church gave support to both her family and her fiancé's.
Church members raised thankful prayers when she turned up safe in New Mexico on Saturday, and they shared the two families' shock upon discovering that Wilbanks had fled town voluntarily just days before her wedding.
On Sunday, Peachtree Corners Pastor Bob Horner tried to make sense of his congregation's weekend roller coaster of emotion.
Horner briefly mentioned Wilbanks' saga during his sermon Sunday. He said Wilbanks' faith and the congregation's support would continue to sustain the families as they figure out what happens now.
"Jesus majors in missing persons," he said. "She was never lost in the eyes of God."
John Mason, Wilbanks' fiancé, is a Sunday school teacher at Peachtree Corners Baptist. A church minister, Alan Jones, was to marry the couple.
As Wilbanks' story unfolded over the weekend, congregation members could be seen standing next to the family as TV crews broadcast family images around the globe.
The worshippers were mostly tight-lipped Sunday morning about the weekend events.
Marvin Hoeflinger, an Alpharetta church member, summed up the sentiments. "We're a close congregation," he said. "When one hurts, we all hurt."
Hoeflinger did not know Mason or Wilbanks, other than through their church membership. Hoeflinger said he was at Bible study Thursday when news first came of Wilbanks' disappearance. Church members feared the worst — that she'd been killed.
"We didn't know what to expect," he said. "The concern was that she was kidnapped."
He prayed with fellow worshippers for the family through the weekend, and was shocked when he learned that Wilbanks decided to abandon her fiancé just days before the wedding.
"I don't know what will happen now," he said. "We all have to have forgiveness in our hearts.
That there's a sucker born every minute?
He was living with a woman not his wife and he was teaching Sunday school in a Baptist church?
Is this an SBC church?
That's not usually their style.
I wonder if they had any pre-marital counseling.
Wait a sec. They were shacking up. They didn't need any.
It's interesting, and telling that the media jumped on the moneyed couple and ignored everything else like the teens lost at sea.
It's great theatre. I'm so glad I live in my swamp.
What faith could it be?
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Faith that she'll walk away unscathed from all the costs of her asinine behavior !!! ;-))
"Come to the church in the wild wood
kindly leave a contribution in the pail
be as simple and as trusting as a child would
and we'll sell you the church in the dale" - John Denver
Maybe nobody was supposed to know....
the pastor stepped in it bigtime during his 4 days of TV face-time with his off-the-shelf wonderful hyperbole about 2 people he really knew very little about.
sha-zammm Gaaaaw-leee!
I know there are different flavors of Baptist, but the mainline Baptists talk the talk, but certainly aren't walking the walk. I really believe the rationalization of once saved always saved is killing the chruch.
I was upbraided in another thread by a person who claims the couple was not cohabitating. Since I do not know much about this story, I accept that this person is correct, and that I was mistaken.
So, would you mind pointing to your source that concludes these two were "living in sin"?
True or not, it is a bad example to the youth because it raises doubts.
At times like this, it comes in very handy to be a member of a "prominent" family.
Amen!
We do want to state that we believe in the sanctity of marriage and that purity should be maintained until after the wedding.
It is our understanding that John and Jennifer have maintained purity in their relationship with each other and that their relationship is platonic. While we do not condone living together before marriage and we were not aware of this temporary housing arrangement, we are grateful for the above explanation of purity.
That's their story and they're sticking to it.
Hmmm. maybe part of the FBI polygraph should be the big question.
Whatever. Their choice to co-habitate has forced the church to do some verbal gymnastics. I'm sure there are a lot of concerned parents who don't like the example being set. IMHO, since he was a "leader" in the church, they should have waited to move in.
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