One dead at NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington(TX)

FT. Worth Star Telegram ^ | March 03, 2011 | staff

[txroadkill]

Arlington police are on the scene at NorthPointe Baptist Church on Brown Boulevard, where at least one person is dead and one is injured.

Police responded to a call at the church about 4:15 p.m.

NorthPointe is satellite campus of First Baptist Church in Arlington.

According to WFAA's website, police said the suspect or suspects in the case may have fled the scene in the female victim's car, which was missing from the scene.

The vehicle is a four-door, cream-colored 2007 Mitsubishi Galant. The license plate number is DFR-352.

Police have asked that anyone who spots the car alert authorities and not approach anyone inside the vehicle.

[dixiechick2000]

Dear Lord! This is horrible!

I’m so sorry to hear this, and will keep the victims, as well as the church folks, in my prayers.

There seems to be a lot of bad news lately...:o(

[LA Woman3]

Related story........

Baylor community mourning the loss of pastor killed in his Arlington church

Angela K. Brown

Saturday March 5, 2011

Faculty and students of Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary are mourning the loss of a recently graduated pastor thought to have been killed inside his own church.

The Rev. Clint Dobson, who graduated from Baylor University with a bachelor’s degree in 2004 and a master’s of divinity degree in theology from Truett in 2008, was found dead in NorthPointe Baptist Church late Thursday.

His ministry assistant also was badly beaten in the attack, authorities said.

NorthPointe Baptist Church pastor Clint Dobson, 28, a Baylor grad, was found dead at the church by police Wednesday.

Associated PressBecause items were missing from the church, investigators suspect that robbery was a motive, said Tiara Ellis Richard, an Arlington police spokeswoman.

Authorities searched for the injured church employee’s car, which was thought to be stolen after the crime. The woman remained hospitalized Friday.

Dobson, 28, led NorthPointe, a satellite church of First Baptist Church of Arlington, for about three years. He was described as a dynamic, caring pastor.

Baylor faculty similarly remember him as “a warm spirit with a gentle soul” who was honored with the Outstanding Preaching Award in 2008, said David Garland, dean of Truett Seminary.

The young pastor was a distant relative of James Dobson, one of the country’s most influential Christian leaders.

“The family is quite shocked,” said James Dobson’s assistant Becky Lane, who said the young pastor was the son of one of the elder Dobson’s cousins.

The crime

Police were called to the church about 4:15 p.m. Thursday after someone went to check on Clint Dobson and the assistant after they couldn’t be reached, and then looked in a church window and saw the victims on the floor.

The Rev. Dennis Wiles, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Arlington and an adjunct professor at Baylor, said he was “just trying to get through today” and was not sure if security would be a greater concern for churches.

“We’re going to go on. That’s what we have to do. That’s what Clint would want us to do,” Wiles said.

Dobson’s background

Dobson grew up in the Houston area and was an all-American boy who loved playing baseball and spending time with friends, said his former pastor, the Rev. Robert Creech.

Rick Carpenter, associate pastor of pastoral care at University Baptist Church, said Dobson found his calling to be a minister after he found himself serving in a chaplain-like role to his fraternity brothers at Baylor.

“Clint was a very fine preacher,” Carpenter said. “He had great people skills, he was a fun kind of guy, a likeable person, but totally committed to Christ, following Christ and the work of the ministry.”

Although Dobson enrolled at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he found himself back at Baylor after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, Garland said.

At Baylor, Dobson excelled as both a student and a preacher, he said.

Now, the school is “going through stages of grief,” he said.

“It’s shock and disbelief,” Garland said. “It just hasn’t entirely registered that something like this could happen to somebody who was such an outstanding minister.”

Many of Dobson’s former classmates have been calling the school with their concerns, he said.

In blog posts on the NorthPointe website, Dobson shared his thoughts about how God relates to everyday life.

“Often people blame God for the sadness of the world and reject any possible hope that could be spoken into it,” Dobson wrote in his Jan. 17 blog. “. . . However, in the realities of a broken world with broken people, the ultimate hope and answer for the world is the free and perfect gift offered by the Creator . . . The nature of grace is free to all at even the lowest point of despair.”

A $10,000 reward is being offered by Oak Farms Dairy for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case.

[ReverendJames]

Zactly - can’t figger out how the media gets it all wrong all the time. Gun owners are responsible and so are the ‘hoods. When a ‘hood sees a no gun zone they move on.

[txroadkill]

Eagles up! Local media just made contact wanted statement RE: Suspects captured!!!

No info yet, will post as soon as I hear more!!!

[txroadkill]

Suspect Captured!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2684222/posts

[ReverendJames]

Super!!

[bboop]

Ah, yes, when I ran the food program at our church, they swarmed like maggots. I turned many away —knew them, recognized the fake stories instantly. The parishioners, whose dear hearts were touched by the stories and who did not recognize a lame story when they heard it, thought I was so mean.

[Richard Kimball]

Knew a church that let a couple use their old parsonage as a home because they were "homeless." At the end of the first month, the church got a bill for something like fifteen hundred for phone service. Most of it was to a 1-900 sex line.

I've found the homeless fall into a few categories. Some of them are mentally ill, and should be institutionalized. This does not mean it's safe to be around them. The second is the temporarily homeless. They're not on the street for more than a month or two. I lived in my truck for several months when I was in my twenties and worked day labor jobs. It was my choice, and I had a ball. The third group are people who don't want to be found because they have felony warrants out on them. The fourth group are drug addicts and alcoholics. Alcoholics aren't usually that dangerous. NEVER trust a junkie.

Amateurs REALLY shouldn't work with the homeless. If someone wants to work with the homeless, they should first team up with someone with street smarts who can spot a con artist and undergo an apprenticeship for a year or so.

[Richard Kimball]

Back when I was involved with a church a lady came to us and said she needed prescription drugs. I bought her everything except the narcotics. She threw a fit. I expected her to.

[Palladin]

Prayers up for all those affected by this terrible tragedy.

Prayers up that the murderer will be caught soon and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[Palladin]

Oh, just saw this. They caught him.

[bboop]

I so agree — must know the con games.

A homeless woman came to our church a few years ago. She was going to help work for shelter, and that worked ok for a month or two. She ended up talking an older couple into letting her sleep at their home, and would slink in late and leave early so they couldn’t confront her. Finally one night they stayed up and told her to leave, right then.

The priest ended up putting out a restraining order on her, to keep her off church property altogether, and several times the police came to church and arrested her!

She told a slick story and was very convincing.