“Good morning, missionaries. This is Jake. My condolences on the passing of President Nelson. I thought of you because I remember President Howard W. Hunter passing away while I was a missionary. Have a peaceful Sunday and a good stake conference.”
—Text message I sent to the sister missionaries in my local Michigan ward, approximately 90 minutes before a shooter attacked Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan
The Grand Blanc LDS Chapel Attack
What follows is not a journalistic account of this morning’s attack, but personal observations. I learned of the attack while watching a neighboring Michigan stake conference via Zoom, south of where the attack occurred.
For reporting, I refer you to the mainstream professional news outlet of your choice. I’ve been following developments on CNN here. I also recommend the Associated Press coverage, from which I pulled the aerial image above. In a nutshell:
At approximately 11 a.m., an attacker drove their vehicle into the Grand Blanc Stake Center. In addition to starting the building on fire, he shot members before being shot and killed by law enforcement. Being a church congregation, the victims of course included both children and the elderly. As of this writing, there have been both injuries and fatalities. Cell phone footage and aerial imagery confirm the chapel was badly damaged.
You can read an official statement here from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
My Stake President gets Weepy at the Pulpit
When stake conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan began streaming this morning, I noticed with some admitted sarcasm how tearful my stake president seemed. Like… Henry B. Eyring weepy. And I felt he would have been this weepy even if President Russell M. Nelson hadn’t passed away the night before. Readers, please bear with me. I promise that detail will be relevant.
I had texted the sister missionaries about 9:30 a.m. Eastern. A few minutes later, they texted me back a heartfelt reply. I assume they were already at our stake center in Ann Arbor. That’s about an hour south of Grand Blanc. The Sisters wished me a peaceful Sunday. It felt like a warm, sincere interaction, which doesn’t always happen with me and missionaries. I am a longtime inactive member.
Early in the session, I posted a semi-humorous Instagram story of me drinking coffee as I watched stake conference in my apartment. I added a sincere caption of condolence, @mentioning President Nelson’s official Instagram account.
Then, I noticed my stake president’s weepiness. He announced the first half-hour or so of the service and took his seat. I did not see him on camera in any significant way for another hour.
It was your basic stake conference general session. Some youth and recent convert speakers. A couple charismatic ward-level leaders spoke, with the appropriate Latter-day weepiness so common from the pulpit. Then came a regional-level speaker with gravitas: the mission president. Our stake conference also included several lovely musical selections, including a beautiful harp performance. Harp music is always beautiful, isn’t it?
Then the stake president rose to give the closing remarks. As I expected, he arrived at the microphone already weepy. I may have rolled my eyes.
Learning of the Grand Blanc LDS Chapel Attack
Then he made the announcement. The stake center in Grand Blanc, Michigan had just been attacked. In addition to a gun, he said the shooter also used “incendiaries.” Behind the stake president, I saw choir members react with pained composure, including one singer whose jaw dropped wide open.
Calmly, the stake president said our chapel in Ann Arbor had been locked down, with doors being monitored. Then he proceeded with what must have been a mixture of prepared and impromptu remarks. He spoke of light and darkness. He was calm and dignified, a good leader.
A young sister, high school or college-aged, had been asked to give the closing prayer. She faltered before starting, even looking over at the presiding high priest for help. She seemed to doubt she could make it through giving a prayer. It may have taken her a minute to collect herself. I literally spoke to my laptop screen, “Somebody stand up and put their arm around her.” No one did, but I could see that leaders on the stand were trying to reassure her. She proceeded with the benediction. I can only witness that her words felt reverent, appropriate, and helpful. She was brave.
Other than the stake president’s horrifying announcement, there was no interruption in our stake’s session. We began and ended on time, and all about an hour south of the Grand Blanc attack.
At noon, I shifted from Zoom to YouTube to watch Beyond the Walls, an online Community of Christ service. I toggled back and forth between that service and CNN updates. On the Facebook livestream of Beyond the Walls, both a chat moderator I know and another member noted the tragedy unfolding in Michigan. Expressions of condolences for the attack, as well as for President Nelson, were also mentioned by fellow Restoration participants. We can all be compassionate if we choose to be.
A Moment for President Nelson and Weepiness
I had started the day reading NPR’s coverage of President Nelson’s passing. He is the one Church president I’ve met and shaken hands with, and politics notwithstanding, I liked him a great deal. I learned about his death from a friend’s Facebook post I saw right after waking up. I found NPR’s coverage of President Nelson’s death balanced and helpful. They included quotes from several sources, including Wheat & Tares favorites Professor Benjamin Park and Religion News writer Jana Riess. After all, that should have been the big Mormon story of the day.
Early in stake conference, I felt myself wanting to poke fun at my stake president for being weepy. A couple of hours later, I found myself pacing around my apartment growing tearful in precisely the same way, and to the same degree. This is all so sad.
A Polite Request and Questions for Discussion
It’s impossible for me to share details of the attack without readers feeling tempted to speculate. I too feel tempted to speculate and lash out. At times like these, we risk being part of the unhelpful noise that makes up so much of social media. That said, our comments section is open. Please use restraint and avoid speculation that centers on laying blame.
How did you learn about the attack on the LDS chapel in Grand Blanc?
What response would you like to see from Church leaders, especially with General Conference a week away?
What resources do you find helpful in processing shock and grief?
Wheat & Tares 
I learned about it as I was scrolling Reddit in another painfully boring Elder’s Quorum Meeting. I didn’t necessarily want to make a scene so I didn’t say anything but as the meeting broke up one of the other quorum members stood up and announced the news. It was the end of services so we all went home.
I’m intrigued to see how this and President Nelson’s death are handled. The church is not exactly a nimble minnow as much a behemoth oil tanker. (For example, the first conference after COVID’s appearance, there was barely a mention in that conference). But I hope they address it. Acknowledge that even the Saints are in danger of being untreated mental health being mixed with guns and calls for violence. They will then hopefully motivate the saints to change the world around them. But I expect so sad tears, thoughts and prayers.
My wife and I learned about both the death of Pres. Nelson and the terrible shooting and fire in Michigan on social media as we were driving to have breakfast at a new coffee shop in a town about 20 miles away. We were both sad, but for very complicated reasons. While Pres. Nelson was not our favorite; he wasn’t Dallen H. Oaks. We wondered which DHO would show up, and also wondered for how long, because he’s in his mid-90s. Would he be open and welcoming, or would he shut off and condemn many children and members who are either LGBTQ or allies of them? As for the shooting and fire at the Stake Center in MI, we were saddened, particularly so close after the shooting at UVU and the terrible division that has resulted from it. We wondered if it would be talked about at General Conference next week, directly, or if it would just be another comment in passing that would be easy to misinterpret on both sides. We were both raised to think the prophet would be a spokesman for the Lord. A thus saith the Lord type of person. But neither of us has seen that in our lives, and I’m 71. We’ve seen the prophet say and do many things, but more time has been spent on whether we call ourselves Mormon than on condemning gun violence. The whole LGBTQ thing has been a communication mess. It’s a sin, but we love the sinner, but children of same sex marriages can’t be baptized, but now they can, except it’s still a sin, and we need to love the sinner, but we need to call out sin.
I feel sad the church lost its prophet. I feel sadder that people died while worshiping because of some crazy man whose motives we can only speculate about and probably won’t be talked about at the conference unless, of course, he’s gay and is left of MAGA America. With troops either in or going to LA, DC, Memphis, Chicago, Portand, any other blue city, I’m feeling hopeless and not getting any hope from the church.
Thanks for sharing your experience Jake. One of the things I take away from my time being a Mormon is the solemn obligation to mourn with those that mourn and your words have definitely helped me feel the need to mourn with the ward members in Michigan. And to mourn the continuing gun violence that has plagued our nation for so long. Our UMC pastor was preaching on gun violence in her sermon today and I think I felt a bit of despair in her voice, for as much as she has been rallying not just our congregations and others, there seems little hope that there will be any change to gun law or gun culture in TN.
I found out about Michigan when a friend texted me this morning. I used to live about an hour north of Grand Blanc. It was just far enough away that I didn’t know anyone down there, but I know people who know people. I know a couple that met at a dance in that building.
I could make a list of things I’d like to see from the church, but since I don’t expect any of them to happen, it would just frustrate me. Michigan is clearly the biggest tragedy here, but the ascension of Oaks is the more concerning thing at my house. Some parts of my family are still trying to find a way to make church work, and the idea of Oaks adding a few paragraphs to the family proclamation and then canonizing it would be very difficult to survive.
I loved President Nelson and I love Elder Oaks. And I love my brothers and sisters in Grand Blanc–and I pray that they will be comforted and receive everything needful thing.
Ironically I learned about both the attack on the Michigan church and the death of Pres Nelson at my local Community of Christ service as one of other members (during the time of sharing prayer requests) mentioned both so that members could pray for our religious cousins.
And I appreciated the Late Edition of Beyond the Walls as the after service chats made space and time to again pray and mourn together.
Hard to believe he made it to 101. May he rest in peace and his family find joy and comfort. I’m not sure why the system in the LDS church is what it is where 80 and 90-year-olds are leading the church until they die. But it is what it is. Oaks will likely replace him. He’s 93. I wonder how much they are actually leading the church or even really capable of leading it. To what extent do they write their own talks or make decisions?
Deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy in Michigan. Why do these things happen? I just don’t know.
Thank you to everyone who has commented thus far. Your messages are appreciated and helpful as we all process this terrible event. For those wanting more detail for understanding how this happened, CNN has put together a helpful account including eye-witness details: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/29/us/how-shooting-fire-michigan-church-unfolded
About 1 a.m. this morning I received an email from my local ward. The message included words of sorrow and comfort, along with appropriate scripture references around the refrain of mourning with those that mourn. May peace come to those who are suffering.
Praying for peace but also glad that the local media focus was forced to shift away from the 101st birthday of Nelson. I’m sure his 2nd wife and also Sheri Dew are feeling quite nonplussed at the moment.
Over here waiting for Kristen O. to tell us that her husband has been unleashed…
I have immediate family in that stake and heard about it from them as the SP was attending their ward and literally ran out of the meeting and then cancelled everything a short time later.
Thank you again for all of the thoughtful responses to this horrific event. I’d like to add a link to a Michigan Public story, spotlighting the memorial vigil held for the Grand Blanc community at their local high school. This helped me to see some of the healing and, where healing is not (yet) possible, the comforting being offered:
https://www.michiganpublic.org/community/2025-10-08/grand-blanc-unites-at-memorial-vigil-seeking-healing-after-church-tragedy