On March 24, the attention of America became riveted on Jonesboro, AR as two young boys, ages 13 and 11, ambushed their middle school classmates. Four students and one teacher were killed and many others were wounded. Shockwaves of horror went through the land as religious and secular people alike began to ask, "Where has our society gone wrong?" We sat down recently with a group of pastors in Jonesboro to talk about preaching in the aftermath of tragedy. The four are: Rodney Reeves, Central Baptist Church, Fred Haustein, First United Methodist Church, Adrian Rogers, Fullness of Joy Church, and Bruce Tippitt, First Baptist Church.

Preaching: You're pastors who have experienced a terrible tragedy in your community. From the perspective of a pastor, the first question I would ask, is "What have you learned about preaching in the aftermath of this event?

Reeves: People really are looking for words of comfort. It's hard to overestimate or underestimate the role of preaching in a body of believers or a community of faith. It seems easy to say, "Our words really don't matter," or to place too much stock on what we say. I've discovered there is a balance. People really do derive much comfort from God's word presented in a way that addresses where we are.

To me, what's so miraculous about this word is that He accommodated us by offering an addressive word through His word to those people at that time. The relevance of that word is an amazing thing. In the memorial service, and in other public places, the reading of the Word and an attempt to explain the Word seemed to have a very powerful healing force.

Rogers: I've found in funerals and in memorial services and in the things that I've been involved in that people don't necessarily want to talk about the tragedy. They can hear that on the news. They know what happened and they're looking to the church and to their pastor for hope. They're looking to us to know that the pain that I feel, I will not feel always. They're looking to us to say, "No, we don't have a magic wand. We can't wave it away but let's go to the Word and let's see where in times of tragedy what the answers were. Let's see what hope was provided." Let's see how, like Rodney said, this tragedy has already been provided for in the Word. And let's go and show you that there is a way out of this. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Tippitt: Fred and I both had already scheduled very important speakers for that Sunday. There was a feeling of relief for me that I didn't have to preach that Sunday. We were all exhausted from the tasks we faced. What I did learn, though, is that I wasn't through with it and my people weren't through with it until I said something. I don't see myself as the prima donna who has to have the final word but I do know that there is something out there that until the pastor has said the word, it's not done. It's both amazing and scary, to know that you have that much power. I don't know that power's the right word but it's a gentle power.