A Harford County church stepped up to help as a deadly shooting at Joppatowne High School on Friday left a community shaken.

Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church served as a safe haven for authorities, students, school staff and their families after the shooting that left a teenager dead.

“You never think that it will happen in your community, and when it does, it’s surreal,” said Kelly Donelson, a member and leader at Good Shepherd.

On Friday, the church was an evacuation site where students reunited with their families after the deadly shooting on campus.

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Leaders said trained church staff members are called in to open their doors to help authorities in any way they can.

“When we got the call that we needed to be a site to get parents and students away from the danger scene, our church springs into action,” Donelson said. “We allowed students to come in, allowed for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office to be here and to reunite parents who were frantic with their children.”

Leaders at the church work with law enforcement and authorities preparing for any kind of emergency.

“You have staff that have been trained with the authorities, and we also have the teachers from the high school come over regularly to walk through the facilities just to see how best to manage an evacuation when it happens,” said Kerry Slinkard, the interim pastor at Good Shepherd.

The Joppatowne High shooting was not the first time the church served in this role. In 2023, it was the reunification site after a deadly shooting at a nearby apartment complex.

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“We were actually here when family members were notified that there had been a tragedy in their family, and when you hear the sounds of that, it’s awful,” Donelson said. “There’s nothing that you can do except stand there and be present and provide some small measure of comfort in any way.”

“The congregation steps up to help provide support in situations like this,” Slinkard said.

“Our community will remain strong and want to just protect the children,” Donelson added.

Church leaders believe the part they play may be small, but it’s mighty in the way they help their community.

“It does make a difference in the community,” Slinkard said. “That’s why we do it.”

WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner.