One year ago during Sunday morning services, Bishop Jeffrey Schaub and his family were in their chapel in Grand Blanc Township when a 40-year-old man rammed his truck into the building, started shooting and set it on fire, killing four and injuring eight. It was the deadliest attack against a house of worship in Michigan in recent memory, carried out by a former U.S. Marine who the FBI said had hatred for Mormons of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
The attack traumatized the congregation and raised concerns about the rise of hate and extremism in an increasingly polarized country.
But on Monday, Sept. 28, the first anniversary of the attack, there was no anger or bitterness from Schaub as he gazed at the site where the attack took
place, speaking in a calm, reflective manner about hope, peace and belief in Jesus Christ. He and others gathered on the sacred grounds of the Grand Blanc church for the groundbreaking of a new church that will replace the razed building destroyed in the attack on Sept. 28, 2025.
"We are happy, joyous," Schaub told the Detroit Free Press.
On Sunday evening, the day before the groundbreaking, Schaub and members of his church gathered for the first time since the attack. They walked around on the grass together, sang a religious hymn and meditated on the past year and their futures.
"We had not been back since" the attack, Schaub said. "It was a very somber, quiet occasion, which was very special. Towards the end, the kids were having fun playing and that made us feel really good, that they're happy being here, we're OK, and we look forward to it."
Schaub, other LDS leaders, and Grand Blanc officials spoke at a press conference Monday morning, sharing their views and plans for the future. Later that evening, hundreds gathered for a private groundbreaking ceremony for a new church to hear speakers, followed by some lining up with shovels to dig into a strip of dirt that marked the start of their construction project. The new church is projected to be open in late 2027 or early 2028, said Marcelino Sanchez, president of the Grand Blanc stake of the LDS Church. (A "stake" in the LDS Church is similar to what a diocese would be for Catholics, referring to a geographic area.)
LDS officials repeatedly thanked first responders, the Grand Blanc community and supporters from around the world who voiced their support after the shooting and arson carried out by Thomas Sanford, 40, of nearby Burton, who was shot dead by law enforcement during the attack.
FBI Detroit has said that Sanford was motivated by anti-LDS hate, calling the attack a "targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailant's anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community."Sanford railed against LDS church members, calling them the antichrist. Some right-wing Christians don't consider the LDS Church to be authentically Christian, a claim the LDS Church has often rebutted. Local officials said that such bigotry has no home in Grand Blanc.
"Hate and violence has no place here," Grand Blanc Township Mayor John Creasey said. "We are pulling through this, and we have done a great job, but we still have ways to go. But our community will be there for us."
Creasey added: "The silver lining to this tragedy was that our community came together in the eyes of a tragedy."
Trevor Alward, superintendent of Grand Blanc Community Schools, echoed Creasey's message of condemning hate.
"Ignorance breeds hatred, and it's our job as a school system to continue to celebrate the diversity, the differences among us, and make sure that ignorance has no place in our community," Alward said.
On Thursday, Sept. 24, the Grand Blanc LDS stake delivered a semi-truck of food to FISH, a group in Grand Blanc that helps people with clothing and food as a way to thank the community for their support. They had delivered a similar truck last year in November.
Sheri Pangerl, the relief society president of the Flint North congregation for LDS, attended the press conference on Monday. The day of the attack, Pangerl and her husband, Chris, who attend a nearby LDS church in Flint, drove to the site after hearing about it and sat in the parking lot next door.
"To see the building that we loved on fire and destroyed" was difficult, she told the Free Press. But now, "the grass is growing, and people are healing. The building will be up again, and hopefully the community and everyone will."
During her remarks at the press conference, Pangerl said, "This is the opportunity of beauty from ashes."
Victims remembered 1 year after attack
Police Chief William Renye said at the press conference that "it's very important to remember on this day the four victims: Pat Howard, John Bond, Craig Hayden, and Thelma Armstrong." During the groundbreaking, a church elder recognized the heroism of Hayden, who died while helping another congregant escape. Schaumb said they won't forget those who died and their unique personalities and contributions.
"I want people to remember all the good things about them," he said of the four members killed. "When we get together, we talk about the good things, the funny things, and laugh a little bit."
LDS leaders also spoke about the importance of their faith, linking the tragedy to the struggles of Mormons over the decades. The LDS Church was founded by Joseph Smith, who was killed in Illinois by an anti-Mormon mob in 1844.
"I want to reassure that no attacks to the church will ever prevent the edification of the kingdom of God on earth," Elder Joni Koch, a senior leader in LDS Church, said at the groundbreaking. "Prophet Joseph Smith once said: 'No unhallowed hand can stop this work from progressing. Mobs may combine, armies may assemble, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independently till the purposes of God shall be accomplished.'"
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: LDS church in MI breaks ground year after attack: 'Beauty from ashes'
