The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs held a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday for the new 250-seat worship center that will be built next to the building where a mass shooting took place six months ago.
A prayer walk to honor the 26 victims of the massacre took place early Saturday morning, KSAT 12 reported. Sherri Pomeroy, wife of First Baptist Pastor Frank Pomeroy, said that the ground was broken on the six-month anniversary of the massacre to "celebrate the lives that our friends and family lived."
Frank Pomeroy said that the new church will represent "new life" and "new growth." "I believe that God is going to use the blood of those 26 martyrs and those survivors to bring forth revival into the land. Bring forth revival into Sutherland Springs, and I would say Wilson County and even into the state," the pastor told KSAT 12.
The Pomeroys' 14-year-old daughter was among those who were killed in the mass shooting in November.
The new building will have a bell tower and a light tower, and will be built on two acres of land just beside the current church, which now serves as a memorial site for the victims. Phase One of the construction project is expected to be finished by spring 2019.
Among those who attended the groundbreaking ceremony was U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who had visited some of the survivors shortly after the shooting. "This community, what they endured six months ago today, it was unspeakable evil. Unimaginable ugliness," he said at the event.
Donations came in from across the globe for the survivors and victims' families following the massacre.
Members of the church community have stressed that none of the donations for the victims will be used for the construction of the new $3 million church, Express News reported.
Some of the victims' families had expressed concern about the handling of the funds after two major donors severed ties with the church.
According to Dallas News, around $3 million has been raised for the victims since the massacre.
At least $1 million in cash and in-kind was donated for the reconstruction of the church. More than $1.4 million was donated for specific families through the crowdfunding site GoFundMe, and $405,000 was donated to various victims' funds.
Last month, the church's Restoration Committee, led by First Baptist member Pat Dziuk, assured the donors and recipients that the funds are being handled properly.
The committee said that a second specialized account has been created, allowing an independent party to process the donations with an independent data record.
Meanwhile, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) is accepting donations for the construction of the new building, and it has vowed to pay for the remaining costs not covered by the donations.
