Church mourns after choir member shot dead in home
Members of the Collins Grove United Methodist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, are mourning the loss of a beloved longtime member of their choir who was shot dead inside his home on Monday.
The Greensboro Police Department identified the member in a statement as 65-year-old Arthur Lee Gilmore, who was found with a gunshot wound inside his apartment just before midnight on Monday.
The Rev. Carl Manuel said he was shocked to hear of the longtime choir member’s murder because he was a “quiet man” who “knew his way in God’s house.”
“I need everybody to pray for me and the Collins Grove UMC. Greensboro, N.C. family as we learned this morning that Mr. Arthur G. Gilmore was gun[ned] down in his apartment yesterday,” Manuel wrote on Facebook Tuesday night.
“I am still in a state of shock because he stopped by the pastor study on Sunday and told me he was happy to be a member of the church,” he recalled.
“Brother Gilmore was a quiet man who sung in the choirs of the church for years, one who would shout every Sunday thanking God for what He has done […] in his life. He knew his way in God’s house,” he added. “It’s going to be a sad day at Collins Grove UMC Sunday. Wow, I don't even want to go to sleep tonight. When I lose a member of my church it’s like losing a family member.”
Audrian Melton, who has been going to Collings Grove UMC for 40 years and was a chairman on the United Methodist Men's group, told WFMY (CBS2) that Gilmore did maintenance work for the city of Greensboro. He remembered him as a hard worker and described his death as “gut-wrenching.”
"It hit home. It wasn't like a stranger; it wasn't like a bystander. It was more. It was gut-wrenching," Melton said. "It was tough and emotional."
The Greensboro Police Department has not yet arrested any suspects in the choir member’s death.
Even though he expects Gilmore’s loss will be felt in the church on Sunday, Manuel believes that the man who knew his way around God’s house is now singing in a better home.
"For me, it just tells me ... that Jesus needed another choir member in Heaven,” he told WFMY.
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