More than 300 people attended a prayer service on Friday night for Lead Pastors Allan and Gay Kendrick and their family at Oasis of Praise Church in McCalla, after their grandson allegedly killed his wife and four children.
After an hour of singing praise music and prayer, Associate Pastor Patrick Cooper spoke briefly.
”I’m not going to give you any more information about what happened,” Cooper said.
“That’s not our position. That’s not our place. We’re in the role of the church. We’re here to love him and sister Gay and the family. Pray for everybody, not want to know everything that’s going on. We don’t have to.”
Brandon Allan Kendrick II, 32, is being held at the Bibb County Jail on five counts of capital murder.
On Thursday, deputies received a 911 call about a child shot on Greentree Drive.
Charging documents against Kendrick say he shot his 24-year-old wife, Kelse Kendrick, in the head with a handgun. Four children were also fatally shot.
A GoFundMe for the family identified the slain children as Kaleb Kendrick, 6, Kynli Kendrick, 2, Haley Daniels, 6, and Colton Daniels, who would have turned 9 on Tuesday. The shooting happened at the home of Brandon Kendrick’s grandparents, the Oasis of Praise Church lead pastors. Kelse Kendrick, her husband, and their two children lived in a garage apartment behind the pastors’ home in the West Blocton area.
Cooper said he believes the pastor will turn to his faith for strength in the aftermath of the tragedy.
”Your pastor’s the strongest person I’ve ever met in my life,” Cooper said.
“He showed it to me this morning less than an hour after the police left. He was already, ‘God’s got this. God’s got it taken care of.’”
Kelce and the children had earlier been at the home of Bill Morrow, Kelse Kendrick’s grandfather, for a pool party to celebrate Colton’s upcoming 9th birthday.
”This is a practical lesson in how to deal with grief and how to deal with trouble,” Cooper said. “This is a pastor’s living example right now.”
