A congregant at The Door Christian Fellowship Church in Melbourne, Florida held a gun to the head of the pastor’s mother during the weekly worship service on Sunday (August 2).
The Christian Post reports gunman John Grace, 21, interrupted Pastor Les Snodgrass’s sermon when he pulled a gun on the pastor’s mother and demanded money from the church. Audio from the service recorded the pastor’s family pleading with the gunman and telling him that they were poor.
Pastor Snodgrass reportedly got the gunman’s attention and then tackled him, forcing Grace to drop the gun and a knife he was holding in his other hand. Other church members including the pastor’s son pitched in on the effort to restrain Grace until police arrived on the scene.
Snodgrass’s wife, Marie, told The Christian Post that she was “furious” Grace pulled a gun on her 76-year-old mother-in-law. Still, the congregation forgave the man who was an occasional attendant at The Door Christian Fellowship.
"After the police left, everybody who was involved minus Johnny, we stayed behind and my husband led us in a prayer of forgiveness so we could forgive him. There is still anger towards his actions but we forgave him for what he did," Marie Snodgrass said.
Publication date: August 5, 2015
