certainties of life, the trust we carry in our fellow human beings that we can go safely to work each day or to school or to the movies are shaken. it's natural for us to wonder why does this kind of suffering happen and what does it really mean. we who gather this evening have come to seek answers, not the answers that the comment tate an television might provide but the answers to the questions that might leave us feeling fearful and insecure. brothers and sisters, let us place our questions, our fears and our uncertainties tonight in the hands of our loving and merciful god. [ applause ] and let us trust as difficult as

that is with our doubt and our fears, let us turn to him. let us ask him for the hope that we need to see in the midst of this darkness a new day dawning here in our community of aurora. in the wake of a tragedy like this, the conversation often turns to moving on. to getting back to our daily lives. but the gospel speaks comforting words in this time of sorrow and tells us very clearly blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. and thank you for the banner in the back. angels walk with those who grieve. [ applause ] let us mourn for those who have

perished. let us grieve with their loved ones w mourn their loss. let us acknowledge the real evil which has wounded our community. in our mourning, our lord who is the great comforter is truly present to us. but we do not grieve like those who have no hope, my brothers and sisters. we grieve with the knowledge that neither life nor death can separate us from the love of god. his abundant love is our c consolati consolation. [ applause ] and so we return to our lives. let us see in this tragedy a reminder that our lives are fleeting. and that they're a precious gift. they're a gift from god, a grace and they're given to us to glorify god, both in the short time that we have on earth and

forever in eternity in heaven. and let us glorify god in our love for him and let us glorify god in our love for one another. and let us glorify god by responding to all violence with peace and to all evil with love. [ applause ] and so, let us now bow our heads in prayer. loving and merciful god, we praise you and we adore you for your great mercy. your truth, goodness and beauty, you're the source of all that is good and all that is holy. and you hate what is evil. you respond to evil, oh lord, with love. in your boundless love you have conquered sin and death. your victory over death is our

hope for we know that we do not live in a lasting city. we entrust our beloved deceased to your love and mercy. we entrust our community to your comfort and peace. we entrust our fear, our doubt, our uncertainty to your providence shl care, oh low. be present to us, be present to us tonight, be present to us in the days ahead. help us to love as you love. and help us to build a community of peace. we pray for the victims of this terrible crime for the survivors and for their families, we pray for their friends and neighbors who loved them. we pray for the conversion of the perpetrator of this terrible crime and we pray for our city, for healing, for strength to go forward. you are our hope, lord. we look to your resurrection as a sure sign that death does not

defeat us, that death is not the end. instead, we pray that each of us may join in the victory of your resurrection. we ask this through jesus christ our lord. amen. >> my name is reed hettich. i am pastor of mosaic church of aurora. leadership matters. leadership matters when things are going well but leadership really matters in moments of tragedy and crisis. here in aurora, we are blessed. we are blessed with strong, capable, caring leaders and every segment and every level of our society.

we are well served. we are well led. at the top of that heap is our mayor. so please join me in thanking and welcoming our mayor, steve hogan. >> i'd like to take a moment and introduce the members of the aurora city council. those friends that i serve with and who represent this city well. it's not just a question of my leadership. it's question of their leadership. so i would like to introduce them individually. i'd ask them to stand.

city council member debbie hunter holick. >> this is chris jansing back live. as we're watching mayor, let's take a look out across the crowd because it's truly remarkable. when we spoke with police officers last night, when we talked to some of the organizers of of this vigil, they said they hoped to fill the lawn. they hoped that 5,000 people would come out here to show their support for those who have suffered such a tragic loss and all of them in their own way feeling the heart break. we are getting official estimate that they believe that the crowd is 10,000 and growing and everywhere i look you see people, you see them lining the sidewalks on the side of this lawn. tremendous numbers of families, large number of american flags and when we heard prayers, you could hear a pin drop in this huge crowd. the city of aurora, colorado. and i'm sure many people from

across this area and beyond coming together tonight for this prayer vigil. let's join it again in progress. >> i join you tonight not simply as the mayor of our great city, but as your friend and neighbor. i know the city council members join me in expressing our tremendous sorrow to the victims and their families impacted by this horrific tragedy. the thoughts and words i express tonight are those of my colleagues, as well. the theater is in ward three. the ward of council member marcia burjons. the apartment is in ward one,

the ward of council member melissa miller. but this horrific incident touches all of aurora. this is one of those moments that tests us as a community, a state and a country. for aurora, this is also one of those moments that bring out the best in our community and who we are as individuals. tonight, we honor loved ones no longer with us. tonight we support the survivors. tonight we reach out to each other and love each other and love our neighbors and demonstrate what it means to be a community of good, caring and loving people. tonight each of us is reaching in to the depths of our souls and asking why. why did this senseless act of violence happen? why did so many lives have to be

cut short and in such a tragic way? these are questions to which there are no answers. but in this time, we turn to our faith for comfort and guidance. we turn to our families and friends for strength and support. but it may be impossible to arrive at an explanation that will make sense to us. what is not impossible is to determine our course of action from here. a course that will help us reclaim peace in our lives. aurora has long been a place of community, diversity and growth. we are a family in aurora. i came to this city as a young man and i raised my family here. we are good, hard working people who believe in the goodness of our family men. we are coming together tonight as a family would, to provide

love and support to those who lost loved ones and those whose lives have been scarred forever by this tragedy. we are praying for you and with you. we are here for you and that is a message i have been sharing and will continue to share. it's also a night to honor those who risked their lives to help others. and there were many. there were people who stared horror in the face and went out of their way to help others escape that theater. there are men and women in uniform from aurora -- [ applause ] there are men and women in uniform from aurora who did more

than go above and beyond but who were extraordinary in their response in the early seconds of this tragedy. [ applause ] and they were helped by many local, state and federal agencies who have partnered with us as we work through this horrible situation. as i indicated, tonight is also a time to honor those who died as heroes. [ applause ]

people like john blunk, the 21-year-old -- whose act of heroism saved the life of jansing young. and matt mcquinn whose act of heroism saved the life of samantha galer and for those others who died but whose story is just unfolding or is yet to be told. because of them, more lives weren't lost and more harm wasn't done. all of us will forever be in your debt. we thank you.

on behalf of our community, we also want to express our deep appreciation for the support we have received from all over the metropolitan area, from colorado, from the nation and literally throughout the world. it does mean something to us. and it means something to the families to know that hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are with us and helping to share our burden of grief at this moment.

and to everyone, i want to state unequivocally and defiantly that it is not this senseless act of violence that marks us as a community. it is the lives and acts of these heroes and the innumerable acts of care for our neighbors that defines who we are. in aurora, while our hearts are broken, our community is not. we will take this experience and use it to strengthen our

commitment to each other. we will reclaim our city in the name of goodness, kindness and compassion. let our city be a place where the vulnerable are supported by our strength. we will care for the families and we will care for each other. the countless acts of compassion and goodness, bravery and selflessness that marked this tragedy will be forever remembered and honored. and our community will be with you as you leave this place tonight. the pain is still raw and the healing has yet to begin but know that the city of aurora and the citizens of aurora and the citizens of this metropolitan area and the citizens of this state will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to help you.

[ applause ] that is what families do and we are a family. we have experienced the tragedy but now is the time to grieve. now's the time to heal. and now's the time to begin to overcome. at this point, i would like to introduce the governor of the state of colorado, someone that i have spent a great deal of time with these last two days in a variety of situations that i would never have imagined. ladies and gentlemen, john hickenlooper.

>> thank you, mayor hogan. that was beautiful. and i know that you have had as little sleep as i have. it makes it all the more impressive. colorado's a good place filled with good peoplement . as you said, we will not -- we refuse to even allow our state, our communities to be defined by irrational, senseless violence. the great thinker and holocaust survivor victor frank, a man who certainly faced deep loss, said, if there's meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.

so what are we to make of suffering from such violence? what possible meaning can it have? philosophers and certainly wiser people than myself may have the answer but it may be no more complicated than a stranger reaching out to another person or hugging your kids a little tighter. remembering to tell the people closest to you that you love them. as we gather here today, holding close to each other, we remember those who died on july 20th and honor the heroes and we continue to seek ways to help, givingfirst.org is a way contributions can go to help support those survivors. and the families of the victims.

there are also so many people to thank. you know, allegedly mayor steve hogan is only mayor for seven months. i find that hard to believe. he is so strong and so wise and he -- i have seen him personally as we have gone through the hospitals and met with victims and their families, willing to give them his strength. and police chief dan oates -- [ applause ] there will be many stories that unfold beyond what's already been told. many of those stories are going

to talk about the heroic actions of aurora police officers. again and again and again. and when -- from the moment, from the moment they got news -- they got the call that came through from dispatch, they were on the scene within two and a half minutes. and literally within seconds they had apprehended the suspect. and i refuse to say his name.

in my house, we're just going to call him suspect "a." but those officers when they arrived literally and i have talked to dozens and dozens and dozens of victims who had found their way out wounded from the theater or in the back and they saw those first officers arrive and make the arrest and then they stood there for a moment and then without hesitation they said, a couple of ambulances aren't going to be enough and they ran as fast as they could run across the asphalt parking lot to get their patrol cruisers and they started taking victims to the hospital.

one aurora police officer took six victims. made sure they got to the hospital. i want to recognize all the hundreds of first responders that came on moment's notice. i mean from everyone. there were legions. and the health care and trauma professionals and the others, i visited now all seven hospitals. i have met many of the surgeons and the doctors. within 40 minutes there were literally hundreds of medical personnel making sure that this

disaster was not what suspect "a" intended. to the victims' family, we are more sorry than words can express. we like you struggle to find meaning in an act that defies any type of understanding. you know, the president and mayor hogan and i went and met with families of the deceased and it was almost like somehow god had come down and picked some of the most vibrant and alive people and taken them from us. and the families again without

words we can't -- we can't adequately communicate how deeply we share their grief. but i think july 20th should never be about remembering this event or the killer. it should be about remembering those individuals, right? about remembering those victims. [ applause ] so i'm going to ask you to help me here. i'm going to read 12 names. and i'd like after i read each name, i would like to say -- i'd like you to say together, we will remember. john blunk. we will remember.

aj bolk. we will remember. jesse chdress. we will remember. gordon cowden. we will remember. jes saga we. we will remember. john larimer. we will remember. matt mcquinn. we will remember. micayla medek, we will remember. ve ran ka moser-sullivan. we will remember. alex sullivan. we will remember. alexander teves. we will remember. and rebecca wingo. we will remember. we will remember you. we will remember you. we will honor you by celebrating

life. we will honor you by living our lives a little better. today we'll also want to remember those other heroes. you know, in the past 72 hours going through the hospitals, i have met individuals and families from indonesia, from connecticut, from new jersey, louisiana, jordan, texas. and to a person these wounded want to stay in colorado. again and again, we heard that they would not be defined by this event. we have learned again about the kindness of strangers. a young man named pierce who had

been shot three times, one with each of the weapons, the glock, the ar-15 and the shotgun, he works at the denver rescue mission. and one point he said, the outpouring of light and love is so much more powerful than any darkness. or a young man named kerry, 20 years old, who described having four complete strangers lifting him up off the pavement where he was literally screaming and carrying him to safety and grass. and then after they picked him up and got him over, a young woman, another stranger, took off her belt and tied his leg as a tourniquet.

alan who's helped by a visiting nurse, again, who he didn't know who helped stop his bleeding. heather, the young woman from red robin. there were 37 people from red robin celebrating and she was there, 25, had been also -- she was the other person we met who had been shot with all three weapons. and you can imagine her ordeal, and yet, behind her on her bed was a large batman pillow. and we talked about that shared strength and resiliency with her and her mother one point looked up and said, it's amazing that one bad person has brought out so much good.

you know, in the coming days we'll hear more stories. i was with the president and he asked me to say that he couldn't be here without us changing it. he was supposed to have left an hour and a half ago but as he met these heroes, as he heard the stories, you know, the staff kept trying to drag him out and he wouldn't be dragged out. but he told the story of a young woman, stephanie davies and she was with her friend aly who's 19 and stood up at the beginning and was shot in the neck and blood started to spurt out and stephanie, 21 years old, had the

sense of being to put her finger over and to stop the bleeding and stay with her and make sure that she got evacuated safely and the president visited them together in the hospital room. we're going to hear more stories in the coming days and we should celebrate those stories. we'll have a chance to honor each of the victims individually and to remember lives cut short for reasons that can't -- i can't explain. history tells us that pain from something like this never goes away completely. but we do get stronger. and it will get easier to move forward though it may take days,

maybe months, maybe longer. to the families of those gathered here today, we remain here for you. our community is here for you. colorado is here for you and always will be. god bless you. >> thank you, governor. we are joined on the steps up here this evening by a large number of elected officials and dignitaries. i'm not going to introduce each one of them individually but i want you to know that here this

evening we have our colorado united states senators, our colorado congressional delegation. we have governors -- i'm sorry. we have mayors from numerous metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have city council members from metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have county commissioners from metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have past office holders. we have representatives of the fbi, our aurora fire department. i'm looking around to -- colorado state representatives, colorado state senators. our lieutenant governor. colonel dent from buckley air force base.

members of school boards. and other employees of the city of aurora who have assisted this evening. members of the regional transportation district. a whole host of people who are here because they care. at this time, i would like to introduce veronica o. white, the chairman of the aurora human relations commission.

>> good evening. i am veronica white and i'm a chairman of the human relations commission and on behalf of the aurora human relations commission i would like to extend to the family and the friends and the victims of this senseless act our prayers and support as you go through this time, remember that you do have a village. the city of aurora is your village. it is your home, your family. and you have members here to help you through this grieving time. the aurora community has come together to lift up, provide comfort and support to each person affected by this senseless act of violence. it is my honor now to introduce to you a village of community members that are going to be able to provide words of comfort to each of you. and the very first person is going to provide victims, families and friends, pastor debbie stafford. >> as we hear tonight to honor

the lives of incredible people, i would like to have us remember the victims, their families and their friends. for those 12 who heroically have given their lives and those 58 who have been injured, for all of the hundreds of attendees that were in that theater and have become victims, for the employees, for the owners, for the families, for the friends and those who have felt the ripple effect like a rock or a pebble that is skipped across the water and the ripples continue. please, as we begin to pray, let us once again honor these 12 who have given their lives. jessica ghawi, 24.

veronica moser-sullivan, 6. john. the larimer, 27. alexander j. bolk, 18. jesse e. childress, 29. jonathan. the blunk, 26. alex m. sullivan, 27. micayla c. medek, 23.

matthew r. mcquinn, 27. alexander c. teves, 24. rebecca ann wingo, 32. and gordon w. cowden, 51. please join me as we pray. heavenly father, we come to you now and ask that the comforter of your holy spirit would wrap your arms around each one who tonight suffers, suffers in their body, suffers in their mind for those who are feeling the ripple effects, their families and their friends. may you comfort them. may you walk with them in the days ahead and may they continue to know that they have received

an outpouring of new friends in this community, of new friends in this nation and that we as a family together will continue to love, to support, to encourage them. and to help them in any way that we can. may the comforter of your holy spirit be with them in the night and in the wee hours when there are so few to talk to. and most of all, may know your healing. may know your love. may they know your power. may they know that they forever will know they are loved. and we thank you for your protection over each of them. in your son jesus' name. amen. >> thank you, pastor debbie. providing words of encouragement for early responders, pastor ron

pherson. >> heavenly father, we are gathered here to bring comfort. in matthew 20th chapter 16th verse, i am reminded that it says so the last shall be first and the first shall be last. and many are called and few are chosen. many times you are the last one that is remembered that you are a victim. you're the last one that people stop to think that you had to go through something. but you're the first on the call. the first on the scene. and we're grateful.

many say they would but you were chosen to answer the call. and we are grateful that you have answered the call. from the days of john the baptist until now, it say it is kingdom of heaven suffered violence but the violent have taken by force. we thank you that you have not shrunk back from this challenge. and that you with great skill and great dare ran in to the building. ran in to places willing to lay down your life for others. i want you to be reminded because what you have experienced, what you go through is something that transcends what you do on your every day job. this is above and beyond the call of duty. but it also affects your family life. i ask god to comfort you an i

want you to remember these words. has thou not known and heard that the everlasting god, the lord, the creator of the ends of the earth faints not and neither isweary? there is no searching of his power. he gaves strength to those who have no might. increases strength and even the youth may faint and be weary and the young men shall fall but they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength. they shall mount up with wings as on eagles. they shall run and not be weary. they shall walk and not faint. it is my prayer, it is our prayer tonight that you would be renewed. heavenly father, i pray that you would renew them. lord, i pray, lord, that you would meet the police. i pray, lord, that you would meet the fire department, the ambulance drivers. apray, lord, that you would meet

the doctors and the nurses. i pray, lord, that you would meet everyone who willing ran in, willingly gave of themselves, lord, to step in the gap for someone else. now i ask, lord, as you bring peace to them, as you heal their hearts and their minds, as they try to wrap around and ask why, heavenly father, but lord that they would look to you and even in the weariliness, even in the weakness that their strength would be renewed. because of who you are. in jesus' name we pray and we say -- amen. >> providing prayer of comfort, pastor robin holland. >> amen. i want to say how proud i am

living hope choir of being your pastor. you did a marvelous job. god bless you all. amen? i want to say to everyone that has lost a loved one, who's had someone that's been injured and anyone that was in that theater or associate with anyone, our hearts go out to you. we have been been praying for you since we first heard, since my phone rang at 3:00 in the morning and i'm here to tell you that the bible says that we're to rejoice with those who rejoice and we are to weep with those that weep. and we weep with you today. but we weep because we have hope that tomorrow was going to be brighter. you are aurora. we are aurora. we grieve together. [ applause ]

i had six members of my church in that theater. and those six members survived. five of those members -- amen? five of those members were in theater one because of the overflow of theater nine. but a young man who just graduated from high school and going off to college, jarell sankstera and his girlfriend jordan were in third row center in theater nine. it's the grace of god that they got out of there alive. [ applause ] and i want to tell you that

their parents, jarell's parents and sister nanita, it was they that i was praying with on that morning. it was they that are in that now famous picture that you saw on tv every time you turn on and we're praying, i had a bright, blue shirt on and we were praying. you know what we were praying? we were praying for those who had loved ones. we were praying for the survival of those that were injured and we were praying that we could touch jarell and jordan. and we could hug them. those prayers were the beginning of healing. and as i pray right now, saints, city of aurora, the healing has begun. your presence here is the step of healing that this nation needs to see.

and i am so proud to be a citizen of aurora, colorado. [ applause ] heavenly father, we are grateful, dear lord, father, you have told us in philippians, father, we aren't to be worried and anxious about anything but we are to pray with thanksgiving, father god. telling you our requests and making them known to you and you said in verse 7 the peace of god that goes beyond any of our understanding will rest and rule in our hearts. give us peace in christ jesus and, lord, we need your peace right now. we need strength that's beyond our own strength. father, this outpouring of love, dear lord, shows the unity in this community. and father, we need, dear lord,

to continue to comfort one another and continue to comfort, father god, those that can't be comforted. because the truth of the matter is, lord, our city is hurting. but one day, lord, we know that our city will march back in to that theater and we'll claim that theater back, father god, because it doesn't belong to terrorists, lord. it belongs to the city of aurora. we ask, father god, that you would bring this comfort and that you would have it rest and rule in our hearts. in jesus' name we pray. and everyone said, amen. god bless you. >> prayer for the city of aurora, representative rhonda fields.

>> good evening, aurora! first giving honor to god who is the source of my life, to the governor of this great state, to the mayor of this great city, and to all of the elected officials behind me that i serve with, to the victims and the survivors and all who are here today, i want you to know that we are aurora and we are strong! thank you for being here this evening. and i've been asked to pray for our city so please bow your head in prayer. almighty god, you are the

creator of the heavens and the earth. oh, god, we thank you for your loving kindness, your grace and your mercy. we thank you, lord, for being here with us today, for stopping the rain and sending rain and s spirit as a source of hope and inspiration that we will make it past today. god, we are calling out to you today with tears in our eyes and sorrow in our hearts. we come for you -- before you with grief, pain, and sorrow. god, please stretch out your hands towards us, fill us with your spirit of love. and please knit our hearts together. where there is despair, bring hope. where there is confusion, bring peace. lord, hear the mothers cry. heal us. comfort us. today, tomorrow, and forever. replace the pain in our hearts

with love and carriage. give us the strength to restore hope and promise in our families with our friends, with our coworkers. just heal us, lord. touch every person in the hospital. every family who has lost a loved one, all of our first responders, our doctors, and therapists and counselors. touch us, lord. touch those that are injured, wounded, scarred, or battered. thank you, lord, for each life that is here today and let our lives be a testimony of hope. thank you, lord, for the leadership of this beautiful city in this great state. we are aurora, we are strong, and we are one. god bless you all.

>> prayer for peace. rabbi black. >> let us pray. our god of all people, god of the rich and god of the poor, god of the faceless and god of the famous. god of the victims and god of all who cry on their behalf. god of those who have no god, we have come together at this sacred and solemn hour to pray for peace. these past days have been filled with horror. we have seen the devastating effects of violence on those killed and injured on their loved ones and on those who have escaped physical violence but who bear painful wounds deep within their souls. we have held tightly to our own children and played out the scenarios of what ifs and why

nots over and over again in our minds. we are drained. we are in pain. and we are angry. and so tonight we pray. god shall spread over us the shelter of shalom, of peace. knowing full well that peace can seem out of reach in the aftermath of devastation. help us to see the potential for holiness that resides within each of us. god we have felt your healing presence in the outpouring of love and caring that binds this incredible community together. we have witnessed your love in moments of clarity that cut through the deafening sorrow that fills our hearts and our homes. we have earn willed of selfless acts of courage that stir our souls and remind us of the goodness that you have implanted within us. and so god guide us to see the good in the midst of evil.

grant us peace, your most precious gift. and help us to be partners with you in shining the light of peace in the darkest corners of your creation. as a jewish prayer, we say -- [ speaking in foreign language ] may the one who makes peace in the high heavens send peace to us and to all creation and let us say amen. >> once again, i want to thank you all for your willing support and participation in tonight's prayer vigil. once again, it's because of you, because of all of us aurora is still an all-american city.

it's through your strength and your resolve we shall prevail and prosper. i'd like for you all to thank barbara and nancy and all the other who have assisted in organizing this vigil. i think it's been terrific. don't you? >> now it's my pleasure to reintroduce pastor reid to help us close this vigil. >> thank you so much for being here. we stand together as a community, and we thank you for being here. there's not much we can do to

sort of decrease the suffering of some of those who mourn and suffer right now except stand by you. and here we are standing by you. we want to thank all the members, all of you that are here. we're especially appreciative to the delegation from buckley air force base, and i want to express -- [ applause ] >> i also want to express appreciation to members of the clergy, to churches stepping up. follow in our closing prayer this evening, we want the final act together for the community to sing together our faith

amazing grace. let's pray. our heavenly father, we thank you for these moments together this evening. we thank you, father, for the privilege of standing together with those who mourn. we think, father, for the privilege we have sof standing together with those who lead. and we ask for your grace and your peace and your help. father, as has been stated this evening, there are no easy clear answers. but somehow some of that pain and confusion is made more bearable as we do it together. and so we thank you for uniting us and bringing us together here this evening. father, as a community, we identify with the words of the apostle paul. when he said we are hard pressed on every side but not crushed. perplexed but not in despair.

persecuted but not abandoned. struck down but not destroyed. and that is the case because we have each other that we have a loving, caring, powerful god who watches out for us and helps us. thank you, lord, for this time together. thank you for these friends and community members. thank you for your presence and peace and healing power. we pray these things in the name of our lord and savior, jesus christ, amen. >> we would ask that you please stay where you are while we let the families exit and all of our officials up here please remain standing. and we'll sing "amazing grace." let's let them get started out and then we'll start "amazing grace."

♪ amazing grace ♪ how sweet the sound ♪ that saved a wretch like me ♪ i once was lost ♪ but now i'm found ♪ was blind but now i see