Faith in the Firehouse Event Oct. 29
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at October 17, 2023 | 10:00 am | Print
When tragedy strikes, most people would turn to a counselor—a social worker or a pastor— to help get them through the tough times.
On Wednesday, Oct. 29, an Ana Grace project event—“Faith in the Firehouse: Lessons from Sandy Hook”—geared toward those counselors will be held at the Stanley Black and Decker Training Center, 1000 Stanley Drive. This all day event is for “those in the faith community who deal with trauma and tragedy on a regular basis—knowing what to do for others and for themselves,” according to the Ana Grace Project website.
Organizers anticipate having about 200 people in attendance. “This is for teachers, social workers and pastors, because when a trauma like this happens, these are the people we go to, our comforters,” said Michele Ruiz, President & CEO of Light of Hope Ministries, Inc. (located at 600 East St.) and a board member of the Faith in the Firehouse event.
“We go to other people for comfort, but at the same time, those counselors are trying to minister to those who are broken and hurt and going through this situation— but who is ministering to them?” observed Ruiz. “What are the things you say and don’t say in a situation like this? For example, do you say [to a parent who just lost their child], ’your child is in a better place?’ Is that what a mother wants to hear in a difficult time like this? No; you should be considerate.”
Ana Grace was one of the children killed in the December 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown; Ruiz noted that the type of senseless violence that took Ana’s life is “happening every day in our backyard.” She added, “There are youth, children who are being killed by gunshots, just like there are youth and children that have mental illness that are killing themselves.”
The Oct. 29 event—which is being sponsored by Stanley Black & Decker— will help counselors “be able to help others and bless other people in a situation like this,” explained Ruiz. “Especially when you’re facing this situation on a daily basis; you have teachers and social workers and pastors or ministers that are dealing with youth and dealing with families but who is helping them as well? You want to be in the right mind and say the right things but at the same time be able to know how to handle the situation.”
To that end, Faith in the Firehouse will feature a full line up of professional guest speakers, including Rev. Dr. Shelley Best, President and CEO of the CT Capital Region Conference of Churches; as well as Rev. Stephen W. Camp, Senior Pastor, and Rev. Mia J. Douglas, Associate Pastor, from Faith Congregational Church in Hartford.
Pastor Terry Jenke will be coming all the way from Whyte Ridge Baptist Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to discuss how he assisted a family before, during and after a crisis.
“There is going to be an amazing pastor coming from Canada,” said Ruiz of Jenke. “The guest speakers are all professionals and they all have experience in this area and are all really great.”
