Watertown Church Holds Prayer Vigil in Wake of Boston Marathon Bombings

Member of the Redeemer Fellowship Church held a special vigil service Wednesday night to provide comfort and healing after tragic events at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The church on Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown typically has home prayer meetings during the week, but the church held a special service.

“We had a lot of people just wanting to be together, to pray together,” said Pastor Chris Bass.

See some of the Redeemer Fellowship Church's vigil in the video to the right.

The service was filled with songs and prayer, along with a short service led by Bass.

Matt Hanudel of Brighton, who provided the music along with his wife Cassie, said the service was comforting.

“A lot of people have questions,” Hanudel said. “All kinds of people looking for security and hope in this time of tragedy.”

The church had a number of people impacted by the bombings, said Pastoral Assistant Andrew Belli.

“A number of people were shaken up,” Belli said. “One ran the race and another member whose daughter ran the race.”

Bass touched on God’s role in Monday’s events, but warned against saying too little or too much in the wake of the attacks.

“You might hear comments like ‘Where is God in this. If god is so great why couldn’t he stop that?’” Bass said. “And yet because of pride, fear of man – being more concerned about what people think of us - we might say nothing.”

He also warned about reading the attacks as God’s vengeance

“In 2001, the Twin Towers came crashing down, and several Christian leaders, well known Christian leaders, said that those attacks against our country was god’s judgment because of XY and Z,” Bass said. "On one level, because we all know the scriptures we know that all acts of evil are part of God's judgement upon sin. ... But that's different than saying I know that this particular event was triggered because God is judging our country because of X, Y or Z."