The first anniversary of the deadly attack on a church in Grand Blanc Township is being remembered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others who are gathering at the site to reflect as they start building a new house of worship.
At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for a new church building at the site where the LDS church was attacked one year ago on Sept. 28, 2025, the deadliest attack against a house of worship in Michigan in recent memory. The event is not open to the general public, but you can watch the ceremony live on YouTube starting at 5:30 pm. It will last for about an hour.
“We are very grateful for the kindness this community has shown and continues to show,” Marcelino
Sánchez, president of the LDS stake in Grand Blanc, said in a statement. “As we break ground, we do so with faith that through Christ we will continue to heal as we build again. We remember with love those lost and continue to pray for the many impacted. We thank those who served and lifted us, and we look forward to the future with faith in Christ.”
FBI Detroit has said previously that the Grand Blanc attack, which killed four people, was motivated by anti-LDS hate, calling it a "targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailant's anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community."
Sánchez joined other LDS leaders and Grand Blanc officials in speaking to journalists on Monday morning at the site about how they've responded to the attack over the past year and thanked the community and others around the world for their support. The Grand Blanc church was severely damaged in the shooting and arson and later razed. The new building is expected to be open by late 2017 or early 2018, an LDS official said. Rows of chairs were set up for the ceremony, with flowers arranged in front of a framed illustration of what the new church building will look like.
"It's been a battle for us over the last year," Bishop Jeffrey Schaub, of the Grand Blanc church that was attacked, said at the morning press conference. "But ... there is no better source of happiness; there's no better source of peace than our savior Jesus Christ. And so while it's been a struggle, we've come out the better for it. We're stronger. We hope that we can share that joy and peace with everyone around us. We're grateful for the support that we've received."
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How to watch groundbreaking for Grand Blanc LDS 1 year after attack
