By TOMIE V. PARKS
Special to the Taylor Press
They passed out posters and made a lot
of posts on Facebook.
"It was an invitation, plain and
simple, for people to come out and pray," said Casey Preusse of
Hutto, regarding Thursday night's prayer vigil for Sgt. Chris Kelley
at Fritz Park in Hutto.
She organized the event as a nod of
respect to the widow of Sgt. Kelley, for she also lives the life of a
law enforcement officer's wife. She's married to Texas State Trooper
David Preusse of Hutto and is all to familiar with the sacrifice and
hardships that work entails.
"I know it's hard, so I just
started asking people to come," Preusse said.
She wasn't sure what the results would
be, and she wasn't entirely sure what the vigil would entail when
plans were set in motion.
"Yeah, we didn't know if 10 people
would come or 10 hundred," said the Rev. Alan McGrath of Hutto
Discovery United Methodist Church, the vigil's host pastor who opened
and closed the program.
The pair's invitations started to
circulated late Wednesday night. By Thursday morning the high number
of RSVPs caused them to change venues from the parking lot at Hutto
City Hall to Hutto Fritz Park.
"We enlisted the help of the
Taylor and Round Rock Police Departments as well as the Williamson
County Sheriff's Officers to direct traffic," said Christina
Kane-Gipson, the public information officer for the City of Hutto, on
Thursday at lunchtime. "It looks like a lot of people are going
to be there, and we want to be prepared." (These law enforcement
agencies have been covering for the Hutto Police Department in all
other areas, as well, Kane-Gipson said. The local officers have been
relieve of duty in effort to give them the freedom to mourn.)
By the time 7 p.m. came along, all of
the parking lots near Fritz Park were full as well as the curbs of
all the streets in sight. Several hundred residents had come in
response to the invitation, alongside a host of community leaders,
which included representatives of the Hutto School District, Hutto
City Council, the Hutto Fire Department, Williamson County Regional
Response and the ROTC members from the school.
Volunteers from the Hutto Citizens
Police Academy Alumni Association were on site as well, pointing cars
to appropriate parking places and helping attendees find places to
sit.
The vigil itself was a prayer service
for the entire community, led by representatives of all the faiths
represented in Hutto.
Sgt. Kelley's friends and family sat
underneath the pavilion alongside the pastors who came to pray while
everyone else surrounded them on the grass lawn beside it.
Speakers included Brian Black, the
campus pastor from the Fellowship of Hutto; Bobby Pruitt from Hutto
Bible Church; Hutto Mayor Pro-Temp Michael Smith; Anne Cano from the
Hutto City Council and the Rev. Will Hutchinson of Resonate Church in
Hutto.
Seth and Sarah Simmons from New Life
Pentecostal Church in Hutto provided the music and sang "Amazing
Grace" at the end of the program. The presentation of the flags
was carried out by the Hutto Fire Rescue Honor Guard.
Several of the pastors quoted various
pieces of scripture from Second Corinthians about "partners in
comfort" to Psalm 23, which starts with, "The Lord is my
Shepherd..."
Despite the high number of people who
attended, the vigil didn't make much noise. Many had their heads
bowed and eyes closed. Some were crying while leaning in the arms of
a loved one, and others were fidgeting nervously unsure of what was
expected. But everyone was respectful, and there was nothing that
disturbed the peace.
Given at the beginning of the program
after the introductions, the Rev. Black's prayer was specific to Sgt.
Kelley, the man who drew everyone together.
"God... we pray to you in this
dark hour," Black said. "No mortal life you have made is
without eternal meaning. No earthly fate is beyond your redeeming.
Your grace can do far more than we can think or imagine, so fulfill
in Christopher your purpose that reaches beyond time and death. Lead
Christopher from strength to strength and fit him for love and
service in your kingdom."
It was during this prayer that several
of Sgt. Kelley's friends and family began to weep and seek comfort
from loved ones.
The prayer that netted several nods of
approval and sounds of "Amen" came from Hutto Mayor Pro-Tem
Michael Smith.
"We are mourning for Sgt. Chris
Kelley and his family and colleagues, yes," Smith said. "But
let us also pray for the people who are out there right now working
for our safety. Let's ask that they receive strength for the dangers
they face. And lets us pray for love."
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