YWAM: Gunman Was Student At Arvada Center

Youth With A Mission Says Murray Did Not Complete Discipleship Training School

POSTED: 4:17 pm MST December 10, 2007

UPDATED: 4:28 pm MST December 10, 2007

DENVER -- The following is a news release from the Youth With A Miission organization.

The shooter responsible for the deaths of two YWAM staff at our facility in Arvada, Colo. has been identified as Matthew Murray, 24, from Englewood, Colo.
Following the shooting in Arvada, Murray fled to Colorado Springs where he opened fire at New Life Church, killing two others before being shot and killed by a security guard.
The victims at New Life Church -- sisters Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachel Works, 16 -- were involved with a summer outreach organized by New Life Church and a ministry of YWAM, which rents office space in the New Life campus. An older sister from the Works family participated in a YWAM Discipleship Training Program at a center in Colorado Springs.
Murray was briefly a student at the YWAM Arvada training centre in 2002.
He was enrolled in a Discipleship Training School (DTS) but did not complete the program. The DTS is a 12-week classroom course followed by a 12-week field assignment, usually to another culture.
The goal of the program is to form Christian character and assist students in discovering their unique, God-given talents. Cross-cultural exposure and global awareness are special emphases throughout these courses, preparing the students to use their talents to obey the commands of Jesus. The program also involves local outreach with nearby churches and communities, and each student is involved in helping run the practical operations of the YWAM center.
Not everyone completing a DTS necessarily joins YWAM. Many participate in a DTS to take time out to focus on their faith and consider whether God might be calling them to Christian ministry. For those who choose to go on into a career with YWAM, successful completion of the DTS qualifies them to apply for hundreds of staff opportunities or further training.
Murray did not complete the lecture phase of his Discipleship Training School, nor did he participate in the field assignment.
The program directors felt that issues with his health made it inappropriate for him to do so. Murray left the Arvada training center and no one at the facility recalls that he has made any other visits or had any communication with the center since that time.
YWAM would like to express its heartfelt condolences to the families of the other victims. Our hearts also go out to the Murray family, to whom we extend a spirit of forgiveness.