One doesn’t think of being murdered when it comes to counseling. Unfortunately for 19-year-old Lucas Leonard, on Oct. 12, that’s exactly what happened inside the walls of the Word of Life Christian Church. Besides the horrific murder itself, the worst part is that the teen’s life was taken during a counseling session that included his parents, Bruce and Deborah Leonard, and sister. This counseling session would span several hours and leave the teen with horrific deadly injuries.
Lucas’ younger brother, 17-year-old Christopher Leonard, was also beaten. Luckily, he survived. While the death of Lucas shocked the town of New Hartford, N.Y., a former Word of Life Christian Church member has come forward to speak about the church, as well as it’s “counseling sessions.” Speaking on “Anderson Cooper 360” Friday night, Chadwick Handville had this to say of the church:
“My own experience, it was at times confrontational. But it also had another side. I learned a lot of music, I learned a lot about the word of God, I just didn’t learn how to live the word of God, and that’s the key difference.”
Cooper then asked:
“When you talk about confrontational, just in your own experience, I know you didn’t see any physical violence back when you were there, but just in terms of what was confrontational?”
Handville replied:
“Ummm… attitudes. If, for example if you did something that wasn’t necessarily liked by the leadership, you were sometimes embarrassed publicly, or shunned in some way. Other times you weren’t… There was one particular family that was, I thought was always targeted was Bruce and Debbie Leonard. I know, again I know they did a heinous act and a despicable horrible crime, and they need to be accountable for that, but they also too were victims. Over eight years.”
After speaking about being part of a counseling session himself, Handville was then asked if the church should be shut down. He answered by saying:
“Yes, yes I do. Sadly, yes I do, and it’s sad because the community needs a church. Every community needs a loving church, and again we have to be accountable and responsible for our own words and actions.”
The last part of the interview has Cooper asking if Handville was surprised that this had happened. Handville, seeming shaken, answered:
“I was more than surprised. I was horrified. I don’t know how anybody could beat somebody to death, like the way they did. Just for wanting to leave a church? I don’t understand, and I’m very sorry for how negatively this has affected their lives. You think you’re over something, and it comes back, and you want to overcome, you want to forget. But when situations, and circumstances, and atrocities, happen like this, it makes it very difficult.”
Judging from his last statement, Handville seems to have gone through more than he lets on. Luckily for him, though, he was able to leave the church in time. While I do not hold all Christians responsible for this, nor do I condemn every church, this is what happens all too often within organized religion. From Muslim extremists to Christian extremists, each belief has to be right — or else.
Featured image by CNN via YouTube screen capture, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.
