Grosse Pointe church takes 'step of faith' for peace, calm after MSU violence

Grosse Pointe Farms — As Kim Clexton looked at the roughly 100 candles lit in the sanctuary of the Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church, she couldn’t help but notice how beautiful they seemed.

She also couldn’t help thinking about the many memorials she'd been to like Wednesday’s, a community vigil in honor of three students who were killed in a shooting at Michigan State University on Monday.

“It’s past time to do something about this,” she said after the vigil.

Clexton of Grosse Pointe Park said hers is a compassionate community, but “we’ve had too many of these.”

About a hundred people attended the vigil, led by Rev. David Eardley. He talked not about the violence in East Lansing but instead about the love and light of the three victims. Two of the students, Arielle Anderson and Brian Fraser, graduated from Grosse Pointe schools in 2021. Another MSU student, Alexandria Verner, was from Clawson.

Eardley prayed for the victims’ loved ones and also for communities affected by the loss. He compared the feelings related to the trauma to a storm, one that has the potential to last for days and weeks.

“It is a step of faith to believe that there will be peace and calm once again,” he said.

He urged the audience to remember that even in times of grief, there is also a desire to love and be loved. Calling it the “shared journey of a community,” he reminded the mourners to be compassionate and consider how each life can touch another.

“As we gather this evening, we remember Brian and his family, Arielle and her family and Alexandria and her family,” he said. “We remember the power of life and light and love in our lives and in gifts that we may share with one another.”

Joining the vigil were people from the Grosse Pointes as well as MSU students looking to spend time away from campus. Natalie Liening, 21, of Grosse Pointe Park is a senior at MSU and came home to find comfort in the familiar after campus became a place that “felt so scary.”

She said her college experience has been disrupted, first by COVID-19 and now, in her final semester, by violence.

“I’m here for the sense of community,” she said. “I think a lot of people want to be around others right now.”

She came with a group of friends, fellow MSU students who didn’t want to be alone after the shooting and were seeking the solace of friends while also being at home, she said.

Tushya Mehta, another MSU student, sat next to her. Mehta, from New Delhi, was on campus when he saw police cars rushing past and received the notice to lock down. He spent much of Monday talking to friends to make sure they were safe.

Mehta, 21, said he knew there also was a vigil in East Lansing for the students, but he, like others, didn’t want to be on campus.

“This week has been really hard,” he said. “We all wanted to be together. I’m glad we can do that while also being with other people, with a whole community.”