CARNATION — Wayne and Judy Anderson were not members of the Tolt Congregational United Church of Christ, but worshippers remembered them just the same.
The Rev. Stephen Haddan intoned the Anderson family’s names and lit the white candles lined up on the altar.
The bell chimed again and then again until the candles were lit for the six members of the Anderson family killed in Wayne and Judy Anderson’s Carnation area home on Christmas Eve.
Two candles remained on the altar. Haddan lit them, but the chimes were silent as he prayed for the final two names: Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe.
Anderson, 29, daughter of two of the victims, and her 29-year-old boyfriend, McEnroe, are each charged with six counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of the Michele’s parents, her brother, sister-in-law and the couple’s two young children, 5 and 3.
Haddan encouraged his congregation to share their feelings about the slayings and to remember that the Carnation community abounds with generosity.
“Do extra things for perfect strangers,” he said.
But after the service, Haddan admitted it was difficult to pray for those charged with the killings.
“Even from the pulpit, it is hard,” he said.
During the community prayers in the darkened Tolt Congregational Church, Bob Patterson prayed aloud.
“I will miss my favorite mail lady,” said Patterson, former mayor of Carnation. “May the Lord be with her.”
Judy Anderson, 61, of Carnation, delivered mail in Carnation.
Other Carnation churches on Sunday celebrated both the joy of the Christmas season and the tragedy that struck the community last week.
Members of the Carnation Bible Church gathered at the Carnation common area. The congregation circled, held hands and prayed for the Anderson family.
At St. Anthony Catholic Church, the Rev. Jan Larson briefly mentioned the killings in his homily.
A candlelight ceremony to honor the slain members of the Anderson family was planned for 5 p.m. on Monday in the Carnation common area near the city’s Christmas tree.
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