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Chicago Tribune, USA
Mar. 17, 2005
M. Daniel Gibbard and Aamer Madhani, Tribune staff reporters
www.chicagotribune.com

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ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 10595 • Posted: Thursday March 17, 2005  

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Strict beliefs could have upset gunman, some members say

SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. — After the first wake Wednesday for a victim of the shooting rampage at the Living Church of God prayer service, some current and former members of the small Christian flock said strict traditions could have contributed to setting off the gunman.

Terry Ratzmann, who killed himself after opening fire Saturday, bristled at unwritten rules that prohibited dating non-church members and seemed uncomfortable with recent sermons that said the apocalypse was nearing, said Chandra Frazier, 31, who witnessed the shooting spree in which seven people besides Ratzmann were killed and four were wounded.

Frazier, 31, a congregant from Milwaukee, said Ratzmann recently seemed depressed and had walked out during a sermon last month.

Since the shooting, Frazier said she has wondered if the shootings could have been prevented had Ratzmann, 44, sought help from mental health care workers outside the church, something she said would have been frowned upon by church elders.

“I can’t say that the church’s teachings were the lone factor that caused the rampage, but I’m certain that it was a variable,” said Frazier, who said she was so rattled that she has decided to leave the church.

“The church does not allow people to seek out help with psychotherapy and psychotherapists, because they say it’s the devil’s work. So, we have a lot of people like Terry in the church who are denying their problems instead of getting the help they need,” Frazier said.

Police have said Ratzmann had no diagnosed mental health problems, but several congregants reported that he seemed depressed in recent weeks.

Scott Maughmer, a former congregant from Ft. Wayne, Ind., confirmed that seeking help outside the church was discouraged. His daughter Lindsay, 10, who was at the weekend service at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield with Maughmer’s ex-wife, was wounded.

Church members were often told their problems were of their own doing and could be solved through prayer and being more Christian, he said. “I don’t hold any hostility against the church,” said Maughmer, 41. “But when you belong to the church, most of your contact with others is expected to remain inside the church.”

Sheldon Monson, a church spokesman, said the congregation has no rules prohibiting treatment by psychologists and encourages people to get help when necessary.

The Worldwide Church of God, the progenitor of the Living Church of God, split into several churches in the 1990s over disagreements about which day to celebrate the Sabbath and a desire by some Worldwide leaders to focus less on the apocalypse.

Based on the beliefs of Worldwide Church of God founder Herbert W. Armstrong, the use of doctors was frowned upon, said J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif.

“It was thought if you had faith and a good relationship with God, he’d take care of your problems,” Melton said. “A number of conservative Christian groups are very questioning of psychology as a whole enterprise. So this group would fit into that kind of category. They would see it as competing with their doctrine.”

There were no significant advances Wednesday in the investigation of the shooting, said Lt. Mark Mallard, a Brookfield police spokesman. Investigators increasingly have focused on Ratzmann’s apparent anger at the church.

A steady stream of people arrived Wednesday afternoon at the visitation for Richard Reeves of Cudahy, Wis., at Molthen-Bell Funeral Home in South Milwaukee.

On Thursday, combined services are planned for the congregation’s pastor, Rev. Randy Gregory, 51, his son James, 16, both of Gurnee, and Harold Diekmeier, 74, of Delafield, Wis.

Allen Perri, a co-worker of Reeves, 58, said he was a good worker. “He did what needed to be done and didn’t mind working a couple of extra hours,” Perri said.

Pat Crivello, a union steward who represented Reeves in his manufacturing job, tool crib attendant, described him as a quiet, unassuming man.

She said he was religious but not one to wear his beliefs on his sleeve.

“What really burns me up is a lot of people fight every day just to live,” Crivello said. “Then you’ve got this guy and he destroys tons of people’s lives, including the church people who saw this.”

Tribune staff reporter Lisa Black contributed to this story.

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