Many PCA pastors around the country find themselves navigating common issues that surface during a presidential election year. But pastors close to the site of the July 13 attempted assassination are caring for deeply shaken, sometimes terrified, congregants. Two Butler-area PCA churches are grappling with their hometown being the scene of a historic event, what they can learn, and how they can help.

The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump took place at the Butler Farm Show facility in Butler, Pennsylvania. Five miles east of the Farm Show grounds sits Westminster PCA. Gospel Fellowship PCA is less than 13 miles south in the town of Valencia. Both churches draw many members from Butler and its surrounding communities.

For Matt and Karen DeLorenzo, the shooting was practically in their backyard. The DeLorenzos attend Westminster, where Matt serves as a ruling elder. They live a few hundred yards from the Farm Show property. On July 13, the DeLorenzos teamed up with neighbors to run a lemonade stand along the designated parking route, hoping the 14,000 cars expected for the rally would contribute toward Isaiah 117 House Ministries. 

Karen DeLorenzo said everyone they met through the lemonade stand was polite and respectful. The tone was more patriotic than political, Karen said, like an Independence Day celebration.

The lemonade stand was cleaned up by the time Trump took the stage to speak, and the DeLorenzos watched the livestream with their neighbors in the backyard.  Though the livestream had a 15-second delay, the DeLorenzos heard the popping sound in real time. As they realized the sound was gunshots and not fireworks, they moved the gathering indoors while medical helicopters landed at the Farm Show. 

Meanwhile, rally goers fleeing the scene on foot streamed toward the DeLorenzo house, disoriented and unsure how to get back to their cars. The DeLorenzos offered directions to cars as their phones buzzed with texts from friends across the country checking in on them.

Matt and Karen DeLorenzo explained to their three children what had happened and their options going forward. The shooting was indeed tragic, but the DeLorenzo family had the opportunity to tell a different story, “to talk about the charitable, kind people you met all day who were happy to give to a charity they know nothing about,” Matt said. 

“We reminded them that God is in control of the entire thing. God is steady, he’s in control, and we have peace in that,” Karen said.

Matt was scheduled to assist with worship on July 14. One of the text messages he received Saturday evening was from Dwight Dunn, Westminster’s pastor. Dunn asked Matt and others at Westminster what they were hearing when discussing the events with their neighbors, and what they believed was at the heart of the questions the neighbors were asking. Dunn also asked Matt what he believed the congregation needed to hear from its pastor.

Matt told Dunn people need their pastor to remind them of their true peace and security. He said believers need “wisdom to process the moment in the context of the gospel. There would be so many opportunities for conversations.”

Dunn considered the feedback Matt and others provided. 

“One of the things that kept coming up, especially among young people, was, how does a Christian respond to tragedy?” Dunn told byFaith. 

He recalled Jesus’ interactions with Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus had died. Dunn was preaching through the Gospel of John, and the sermon he wrote for July 14 was based on the account of the man born blind (John 9). But Dunn called an audible and skipped ahead to John 11.

With all the time Dunn spends preparing each sermon, Matt DeLorenzo appreciates Dunn’s willingness to change his plans in light of the historic moment. Other members appreciated it, too, as they shared Dunn’s sermon on social media. 

Seizing the Moment After a Near Miss

If a president is paying a visit, Matt Everhard wants to be there. So when Trump announced a rally in Butler scheduled for July 13, the pastor of Gospel Fellowship PCA signed up to attend. But as the day approached, the prospect of spending a Saturday standing around in the scorching heat while battling sickness and a bad knee made the idea less appealing. The Everhards opted to watch the rally at home instead. 

Everhard estimates that at least 15 members from Gospel Fellowship attended the rally and were badly shaken by what they witnessed. After Sunday’s worship service, people lingered to talk about what they saw. 

“It was hard the next morning to focus on worship,” Everhard said. “People were on the edge of feeling all kinds of emotions.”

He admits it was unsettling to see such horrific news unfolding in front of such a familiar scene. “Being in Butler, you would never expect Butler would be the place where something would happen. Watching on television, seeing streets you are familiar with, knowing the president is at your hospital, it’s surreal,” he said. 

But God’s sovereignty was on display, a truth Everhard highlighted in his sermon. Gospel Fellowship has been studying Daniel, a book full of lessons on God’s sovereignty over the world and its rulers. His July 14th text was the first few paragraphs in Daniel 6. The passage prompted the church to think about God’s sovereignty in new ways.

“What does it mean that God is sovereign down to the millimeter that could have changed history?” Everhard said. 

As news spread that Corey Compatore had been killed while shielding his family from the bullets, members of Gospel Fellowship joined with the rest of the community in mourning his death. In 2021, Compatore visited Gospel Fellowship with this family, and Everhard still has the yellow visitor card Compatore filled out. 

Compatore later posted to Facebook about his visit, saying his family was welcomed with handshakes and kind words, and he seemed especially grateful to receive communion after pandemic restrictions had changed so much about how believers gather for worship. “It was refreshing to finally attend a church service in that way again,” he wrote. “I have missed that greatly, so thank you Gospel Fellowship PCA.” 

Everhard says Gospel Fellowship continues to pray for the Compatore family as they mourn. Dunn said he prays that Westminster members would see ways to connect to the gospel in conversations about the shooting. 

Matt DeLorenzo has already had conversations with coworkers about what happened and the implications. He hopes his family and members of Westminster can continue to minister to the community through faithful conversations. “I hope the church can be vulnerable, listen well, and answer with the hope we profess.”