Worshippers devastated by the murder of a parochial council secretary joined together today to begin dealing with their "community wound"
Jennifer Jackson, 68, and her husband, James, 67, were two of the 12 people shot dead on Wednesday by crazed Derrick Bird as he drove through the quiet village of Wilton in Cumbria.
Mrs Jackson would normally have been taking communion today in the stone-walls of Haile Parish Church where she played a key role and was immensely popular for her kindness and beautiful floral displays.
Instead, before the 9.30am service began, the Rev Barbara Jeapes stood welcoming parishioners with a hug or a kiss and playing over in her mind how different the service would be.
"We thought we were battered before but we realise that we now have a new dimension," she said, referring to an awful year for the county - devastated by the floods and heartbroken by the deaths of two pupils and a pensioner in a horrific road crash last week.
"This is a community wound, not an individual wound," Mrs Jeapes told the assembled 41 parishioners.
