On Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, violence targeted members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Four people died and eight others were injured when a man rammed a truck into a chapel, started a fire and began shooting.
Since the attack, members of the Grand Blanc Ward have received support from Church leaders and members all over the world, as well as love and aid from their own community.
“I have seen so much goodness, so much love and so much kindness,” said Grand Blanc Michigan Stake President Marcelino Sanchez.
President Sanchez joins Church News reporter Mary Richards on this episode of the Church News podcast to talk about what has happened in the past year and what is ahead.
Listen to this episode of the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, bookshelf PLUS, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Mary Richards: I’m Mary Richards, a reporter with the Church News.
One year ago, violence was targeted at members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Four people were killed and eight others injured in a fire and shooting at the meetinghouse on Sept. 28, 2025.
Joining me on this episode of the Church News podcast is Grand Blanc Michigan Stake President Marcelino Sanchez. Thank you for joining me, President.
President Marcelino Sanchez: Thank you for having me, Mary.
0:29
Mary Richards: It’s been one year. On this year mark, what are your thoughts as you look back over what has happened since last September?
President Marcelino Sanchez: I’ve been reflecting on that quite a bit lately, as you might imagine. And I have been reviewing both the experiences of those who have told me their experiences as well as reflecting on my own experience as a leader.
And I guess the word that comes to my mind is: We have seen many, many blessings, many tender mercies, from our Heavenly Father. Yes, there is healing still occurring. Yes, there is traumas that people are still dealing with. But overall, we have seen many, many wonderful blessings from our Heavenly Father. So that’s how I would summarize what’s happened over the last year: many blessings.
1:25
Mary Richards: We’re speaking on the weekend that a new chapel — the groundbreaking for the new chapel will be held.
What will that mean to your ward members, stake members in Grand Blanc, to have the beginning of a process of having this home again, really?
1:41
President Marcelino Sanchez: Yeah, that’s a very good question. For, I believe, the large majority of the members, this is an exciting event because for many of them it means not just rebuilding, but it means hope. It means having a home to go back to as Saints.
I mean, this is a historic building where many people have attended for many, many years. We have members in that ward who were there when the original building was dedicated. And so the building has a lot of meaning to many of our members, whether they have been in the ward for many decades or whether they are new to the ward.
And so, the groundbreaking is really a wonderful sign, a wonderful symbol of rebirth, of resilience and of moving forward. Of course, it being — the groundbreaking coinciding with the year anniversary also brings painful memories.
And so, some members have expressed that, and our goal is to make the groundbreaking as intimate of an event and as healing and nurturing as we can make it. It will not be your typical groundbreaking, because most groundbreakings are of new buildings in green fields. This is not that type of groundbreaking. So it’ll be a little bit different, but I believe those who attend it will walk away having been glad to have been there.
3:36
Mary Richards: Oh, yes. Very, very tender, I’m sure.
I’ve been thinking about, too, I wanted to name these members of the Grand Blanc Ward: Thelma Armstrong, John Bond, Craig Hayden and Pat Howard, who were killed. And I imagine their families and the ward and the stake have been mourning.
Can you tell me how they’re doing? The ward, the stake, their families, how are they doing today?
4:05
President Marcelino Sanchez: Well, that’s a difficult question to answer succinctly, because the truth is that it depends on the individual. I would say that for the most part — and this is reflecting on what I have heard from one of the counselors in the bishopric — the ward is moving forward. Members are learning how to manage the trauma and the healing.
So, on the whole, the ward is doing well. Of course, there are specific individuals for whom the healing and the trauma will take a long, long time. And especially on the year anniversary, there are many people who are probably having some memories and some emotional reactions, which is normal. It is to be expected.
Just this morning, I sat down with a couple, some of the people that were injured. And what I heard was hope. What I heard was faith, was resilience. And it was wonderful to be able to meet with them and to hear their testimonies. But there are members who are struggling, of course, but the great majority of them are feeling God’s presence in their lives.
But again, on the whole, the members are wonderful, and they are faithful, and they are coming to church. The attendance actually has gone up overall. I think attendance is as strong, if not stronger, than before.
6:00
Mary Richards: I remember you said, in the days following the tragedy, you talked about unity and faith in Jesus Christ. And I think, too, that sometimes I would love for grief and recovery to just be a linear process, and we’re going to meet these timetables, and everything will go forward. And it’s not that way.
But in those thoughts about unity and faith, tell me about what you have seen from the ward leaders and members, but also the faith and support and help from those in the community and those from other faiths.
6:34
President Marcelino Sanchez: Yeah, that’s a very good question. You know, right from the very beginning, starting immediately that same Sunday after the word got out — which happened very, very quickly — it was amazing to see neighbors, businesses, other churches reaching out to us so genuinely and with so much compassion. It was amazing.
I remember within an hour or two, our members were being interviewed in a movie theater close by. The FBI was doing their investigation. And immediately we started seeing waters and snacks and things, and later on food. I mean, it was organized so quickly, and it was wonderful to see that.
That day, I remember a gentleman who’s become a dear friend of mine now, Jerry Lasley; he’s a pastor in an Episcopal church about 2 miles from our stake center site. He called me and said: “If you need a building to meet, just want you to know that our building is yours. You can use it for as long as you need to.” Of course, he didn’t know that we have a building nearby where the members are meeting now and have been meeting for the last year. But that was the immediate response of help without even asking any questions. It was wonderful.
The members came together in a — I mean, that ward has always been a great ward. But the unity that I saw among the members was very special. I remember the visual that comes to my mind was that Tuesday night Elder Bednar came to minister to the Saints — and maybe we’ll talk about this a little bit more.
And the meeting was wonderful, but what I remember was after the meeting, everybody was in clusters of members ministering to each other, so glad to see each other, hugging each other, crying together. And then people would move from one group to the next, and they would create new clusters. And that happened for, I don’t know, about an hour after. We actually had to tell our members that they needed to go home, because the law enforcement that were there on site needed to go home to their families. But people didn’t want to leave. So that was a great visual that I still remember with great love.
And of course, that unity has been felt throughout the stake as well, as members throughout the stake were just so ready to go and help and minister to the members of the Grand Blanc Ward, our brothers and sisters. So it was a wonderful, wonderful experience, and we have seen that throughout the past year.
9:56
Mary Richards: Wow, that’s beautiful. You mentioned the ministry from Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
How has his visit and other visits from and ministry from other Church leaders and general officers lifted the Grand Blanc Ward and pointed them to the Savior?
10:17
President Marcelino Sanchez: Elder [Ulisses] Soares told me that the Brethren had been praying. They were, of course, meeting to discuss the passing of President [Russell M.] Nelson, but that when the word came in about the shooting, that the focus and the attention shifted towards that. He shared this with me when I attended a meeting in Washington, D.C., where he was presiding, and it was a wonderful blessing to hear that from him.
Of course, they dispatched Elder Bednar. I don’t know if that’s the proper word, but they sent Elder Bednar. They assigned him in a matter of hours to be here on that Tuesday night, and that was such a blessing. An Apostle of Jesus Christ in action, ministering to the Saints, was a memory that I’ll never forget.
He was only here for seven hours, literally seven hours, and during those seven hours, he accomplished more ministering than I think most of us members do in days. He was able to minister to all of the people, all of the families that had lost loved ones, families that had injured relatives and loved ones. He went to the hospital and met with those that were in the hospital and their families.
And then we still had time for a devotional at the end. The only way I can describe that meeting was a bountiful experience. That’s the closest comparison I have, because I saw an Apostle of Jesus Christ literally shaking everybody’s hands and ministering to them one by one, the whole congregation, probably close to 300 people, and it was incredible to see that.
And then during the closing hymn, “Gethsemane” — I don’t think it was a closing hymn; it was somewhere in the service — we sang the song “Gethsemane,” a beautiful hymn. And during that short hymn, he went down and gave a hug to the wife of one of the deceased brothers, Brother Pat Howard. And I don’t know what he said to her, but that was a wonderful thing to see. So it was just a remarkable experience.
13:09
Mary Richards: That’s wonderful. I think, too, about the fasting and prayers from around the world.
How did that help as well?
President Marcelino Sanchez: You know, Mary, I’ll be honest that before that time, before that experience, Whenever I would hear people — and even me; I pray for others when they’re suffering — but I never knew exactly what the blessings were on the other side.
The days following the shooting and the fire were very long, long days, and I was probably only three hours fitful at nights. And I knew that I needed strength and stamina to be able to do what I needed to do that day. And the remarkable thing is that every morning, I would wake up early in the morning — because I couldn’t sleep anymore, after only sleeping three, maybe 3½ hours — feeling refreshed, strong, feeling ready to go.
And by the way, I didn’t know what I was doing. We had no playbook. We were just doing what we felt was necessary, what we felt was appropriate. And I felt like Nephi for that whole week, not knowing beforehand what I needed to do (see 1 Nephi 4:6). Nevertheless, I went forth. And the Lord guided every one of those steps.
I know that there were many prayers being offered on my behalf. And each morning, I got up and felt refreshed. I knew that He was the answer to many prayers. I have no question about that.
15:09
Mary Richards: What do you all need today, one year later? What is it, do you think, that you personally, the Grand Blanc Ward, the stake, the community need now?
President Marcelino Sanchez: You know, the needs are very, very personal. And unlike when a natural disaster occurs and you can see devastation, personal trauma is very different. You cannot see it, and it’s not something that people can go in and rebuild. It is one thing to clean out and gut out devastation after a flood or after a tornado and rebuilding the community. This is a little bit different.
So, I think what people need is continued prayers and the faith of the members. Especially at this time during the one-year anniversary. Different people will have different reactions to that one day. Whereas for some it may not be a big struggle, for others I know it is a big struggle, and I have heard from some of them.
And so I think continued prayers and faith on their behalf and fasting would be something that would be a great blessing to people.
16:34
Mary Richards: I think about what you said about how there can be tragedy on a widespread scale or on a personal scale. And I would hope those listening can see maybe themselves in your story as well, that yes, these hard things happen, but God does not forget His people. I hope you have felt that.
And I guess also, what would you say to those experiencing hard things around the world, and they’ve thought also about you and your ward and your stake in their own trials and challenges?
17:09
President Marcelino Sanchez: You know, I believe that — and I know this not only from personal experience but also from others that I have asked and that have told me their stories — for the most part, something that is a very healing thing is to serve and to get out there and to serve and to help others.
One of the sisters, they were not victims that were not injured, but they were there, and they suffered just as much trauma as anybody else. Part of her story is that within a couple of days, she and her husband decided: “We need to get out. We need to go out and help people.” And they went out, and he used his priesthood authority to give blessings to not only his own children and family but to other members of the ward. And I know that many, many, many members did the same thing. They went out to minister to one another.
And on that note, I would invite anybody who’s hearing this podcast or watching the podcast: If you want to do something, get out and bless the life of somebody. Go out there and minister to the one, to someone that needs what all you can do. We often think about the heroic things after a tragedy, but the reality is most of the blessings that came after that day were individual one-on-one ministering interactions. And so that’s something that we can all do.
And so I think I would add to your question earlier about, “What can members throughout the world and throughout the Church do?” Well, one thing we can do is to minister to those in need where we are, to foster peace, to foster a sense of community, to foster a sense of belonging for anybody within our circle of influence.
If we do that one by one, I mean, we are millions around the world as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Spread peace in the way that we behave, in the way that we respond to challenges, to criticisms. As we respond with love, with peace in our hearts, giving people love the way Christ would, I think we can — I believe literally in what President Nelson said: We can change, literally change, the world one interaction at a time.
If all of us each day look for interactions where we can spread love and peace, the peace that comes through Christ, just imagine. Multiply that by millions of us throughout the world. We literally can change the world and potentially prevent violence that was brought upon us by someone who misunderstood us, by somebody who didn’t really understand who we were. And so I think that’s something that we can all do.
20:29
Mary Richards: That is so beautiful. And I apologize, I keep wiping away my own tears from all of our conversation today. I’ve been so blessed to have this time with you and learn from you, from this resilience and this faith that you have and that your stake and ward members have in Grand Blanc.
What you were just talking about leads perfectly to what I was thinking about for the last question on the Church News podcast. We always like to ask, “What do you know now?”
And so, President Sanchez, one year after this horrific violence, this shooting and this fire, What do you know now about prayers and peacemaking and unity and faith in Jesus Christ?
21:18
President Marcelino Sanchez: I know better, with greater clarity, that most people are good people. Most — the large majority of people that we interact with at any given point, we are good people. We may not always behave in the most Christian way, but we’re all good people. People have good desires. People have good intentions. What we saw, the act of violence, was — I cannot explain it, because I’m not that individual, but I do know this, is that it is a very exceptional thing to see. In other words, it’s very rare, very rare.
What I have seen, and what I have seen in abundance, is the Light of Christ that shines through people. Even people not of our faith, even people of different faiths, not Christian faiths, the Light of Christ shines through them. Even people who do not believe in a God, the Light of Christ shines through them. They may not explain it the same way. They may not see it the same way as we do. But I have seen so much goodness, so much love and so much kindness.
And so, I’ve always believed that — I’m an optimist by nature. I love to give people the benefit of the doubt. I like to assume that people mean well. But since that day, I have seen many thousands of examples of the goodness that is in people’s hearts. And I know that that goodness comes from God. There’s no other source. There’s no other explanation. That goodness comes from God.
And we extend ourselves to others as we join our arms with others and work shoulder to shoulder to benefit our community, to benefit people in need. We do not have to believe the same things. We do not have to understand the Bible and the scriptures and God the same way to come together and do wonderful things. And I’ve seen that firsthand, that when we come together in love, we can do great things together. And all of that is, I believe, is because of the Light of Christ that is in each of us.
If there’s anybody listening to this podcast or watching that sent cards, that sent us emails, that posted online, I want to say, on behalf of every member of the Grand Blanc Ward and of the Grand Blanc stake: Thank you. I wish I could have the opportunity — sorry — I wish I could have the opportunity to shake every hand and to hug every person that sent us something.
To all of you who did anything — whether you sent money for the victims or offered a prayer or fasted for us — thank you, from the bottom of my heart. And on behalf of the Grand Blanc wards and stake members, thank you so very much. We really appreciate that, and we feel your love. Thank you so much.
