SPECIAL REPORT

• The Year America Changed • Tristate events mark Sept. 11 • Special services focus on healing, hope • Crime falls, jitters intensify in airport vigilance • Cries of anguish, hymns of hope

        MASON — Though their hearts were as sad as any Americans on that September day a year ago when horror and madness seemed to rule, the 1,800 people of Hope Church here never despaired.

        They knew that faith conquers death. Love defeats hate. Hope triumphs over despair, every time. That is what the faith of this Evangelical Free Association church asks its members to carry in their hearts, and, even more importantly, asks them to carry to others.

        This week, as the nation observes the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, they will do that in a massive way — not just in their community, but in the two cities most directly affected by the acts of terror — New York City and Washington, D.C.

        “We want to reach out to people and tell them that there is a reason for hope, even in a world where something like this would happen,” said Worship Pastor Dan Dunlop.

Pastor Dan Dunlop looks over the field of flags honoring 9/11 victims. (Tony Jones photos) | ZOOM |

        This spring, Mr. Dunlop launched a project called A Tower of Hope with a single collection at Sunday services that netted more than $76,000 in donations from church members.

        A Tower of Hope will come to life at 3 p.m. today when the church opens its “We Remember” memorial on several acres of ground adjacent to the church. There, visitors will see 3,846 American flags placed in rows, one for each of the victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, and the crash of the hijacked airliner in Pennsylvania and the lives lost thus far in Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. military's response to the terrorism.

        Tonight and each night through Thursday, the flags will be illuminated with a powerful searchlight; and visitors will be able to look at a white makeshift wall containing the names of those who lost their lives.

        They will see, too, 19 white flags representing the 19 hijackers who died.

        “There was a lot of discussion about that in the church; there were many people who didn't like that idea at all,” Mr. Dunlop said. “But, in the end, we realized that Christ died for all men. He forgives all. We despise their acts, but they were God's children, too, and they have families who mourn.”

        Ryan Duebber, an architectural designer who is a member of the church, drew up the plans for the display. He said that, if viewed from the air, the flags will be in the form of a cross.

        “The beauty of memorials is that you never know exactly what people take away from the experience of seeing them,” Mr. Duebbers said. “What I hope is that people will get a sense of the magnitude of the loss and a sense of hope through faith.”

Members of Hope Church planted 3,836 American flags in the church lawn. | ZOOM |

        Mr. Dunlop said he hopes the memorial display will serve as the region's “gathering place” as thousands of Cincinnati area residents try to cope with the memories of what happened last Sept. 11.

        “What I hope is that people will be able to walk through this sea of flags and be moved,” Mr. Dunlop said.

        But the Sept. 11 anniversary ministry of Hope Church will not end with the display on the corner of Western Row and Mason-Montgomery roads, the candlelight vigil at the display at 9 p.m. Tuesday or the remembrance service at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

        Today, about 1,000 volunteers, most of them church members, will fan out around Cincinnati to pass out 20,000 copies of the CD recorded this summer by the choir and musicians in the church. It is a combination of Christian and patriotic music, and testimonies from a man who escaped from the south tower and a New York City mother who lost a child in the World Trade Center collapse.

        In Cincinnati, Hope Church will be aided by about 70 members of River of Life Church in Over-the-Rhine, a fledgling church that Hope Church has helped in recent years.

        “Our people are interested in helping the whole community heal,” said Pastor Alvin Sanders of River of Life Church. “That should always be the role of the church in the community.”

        Monday, Hope Church volunteers will begin the long drives to Washington, D.C., and New York City, where they will pass out another 10,000 CDs to people at the World Trade Center site and at the Pentagon.

        JR and Ruth Ann Thomas, two church members who own a landscaping firm in Loveland, will be one of four couples going to the World Trade Center site.

        “I feel so blessed to be able to do this,” Mrs. Thomas said. “I know it is what God wants us to do. Someone will listen to this music and be comforted. Somebody's life will be changed. How could I not want to help do that?”

        Mr. Thomas said that he and his wife are not making the trip “so that we can feel good. We're going there to share out faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

        Last year, on the night of Sept. 11, Mr. Dunlop put a sign in the yard of Hope Church saying there would be a prayer service. Hundreds of people showed up, including many nonmembers.

        “Many people needed a place to go to show their grief,” Mr. Dunlop said. “We had families huddling together, praying, singing. It was a difficult day, but made easier by the fact that people could share their faith here.”

        Many still need that kind of comfort and assurance, said church member Kerry Bradley, a singer who recorded a song for the CD.

        “Many people felt like they had the carpet yanked out from under them on Sept. 11,” said Mr. Bradley, who is also chief operating officer of Lenscrafters.

        “Everything they had trust in, they began to question; and they began to ask what it is that they can have faith in in this world,” Mr. Bradley said. “We want to show them that we think we have that answer. The Lord Jesus Christ.”

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