The Rev. Kirk Kubicek writes his parish, friends and family on Facebook updating them on the situation at St. Peter’s, Ellicott Mills where there a homeless man apparently shot the parish administrator and the co-rector on Thursday before killing himself.
The situation remains as stated by the parish:
Brenda was pronounced dead at the scene. The Reverend Kohn was transported to Shock Trauma last evening and remains on life support in critical condition to support the family intentions to provide the gift of life through organ donation.
Here is Kubicek’s FB post:
Dear friends, colleagues and fellow travelers in Music and Ministry-
Thursday a great tragedy intruded on life in our parish, St. Peter’s at Ellicott Mills – A deeply troubled homeless man entered our Parish Office, shot and killed my two closest colleagues in ministry: Brenda Brewington, our Administrative Assistant, and The Reverend Dr. Mary Mary-Marguerite Kohn, for seven years first my Associate Rector and for the past two years as Co-Rector of St Peter’s. I have spent most of my time since the incident was reported at 5pm on Thursday working with the Howard County Police, the parish, and the families of Brenda and MM. I cannot begin to thank all of you who have offered your support and prayers at this time. It makes a difference for me, for our family and for all of us at St. Peter’s. I have had the support of a local sheriff, Sam Hammond, who was by my side all of Thursday evening and night into the early hours of Friday, as was the Reverend Angela Shepherd of our Diocesan Staff. Thanks to all of you I and everyone at St. Peter’s feels supported by a great cloud of witnesses, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please keep the prayers coming as we find our way forward. Brenda’s family and MM’s family join me in thanking you for keeping their life and miinstry a living icon for good and love in this world. Blessings and Peace be upon you and upon us all as we seek to see God’s power and majesty in every moment of every day.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Kirk Kubicek,
aka Chief the Drummer.
The Baltimore Sun noted in their reporting about the impact this had on the Episcopal Church.
The shooting rattled Episcopalians across the state and the nation, as well as neighbors in the quiet community surrounding the church, near Ellicott City’s historic downtown. The shootings occurred on the eve of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland’s annual convention, a meeting that was delayed Friday by a prayer service for the victims….
…Condolences streamed into Episcopal community websites as the news spread to congregations across the country.
“May she rest in peace and rise in glory,” Anne LeVeque wrote on EpiscopalCafe.com in reference to Brewington.
Ironically, The Rev. Dr. Mary-Marguerite Kohn was a pastoral counselor specializing in trauma. The Sun continues:
Tom Rodgerson, assistant chairman of the pastoral care department at Loyola, called Kohn “a great human being in the very whole and best sense of that term.”
Her specialty in her studies at Loyola had been trauma in the church, Rodgerson said. That included incidents such as fires, sexual abuse, financial scandals — and violence.
“She helped to prepare clinicians on how to intervene and also how to do preventative work, when possible,” Rodgerson said. “She was a person who did a lot of listening and was not going to ever be judgmental.”