JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

The Rev. Scott Russell walks the labyrinth at Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg.

| Mary Hardbarger

mary.hardbarger@roanoke.com, 381-1679

BLACKSBURG -- There will be a new place to reflect and meditate Sunday when Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg dedicates its new labyrinth to the community.

The labyrinth was recently completed and was built in response to the events of April 16, 2007.

The project was funded by a grant given to the church by Episcopal Relief and Development almost immediately after the shootings occurred. It was the first grant given to a "disaster site" that didn't need food, clothing or shelter.

The purpose of the blanket grant was to help the church and the community on a road to healing.

Following the killings, the Rev. Scott Russell, campus minister and associate rector of the church, said the parish was left in a state of shock and grief.

"We weren't hit by a natural disaster," Russell said. "We were devastated by what I like to call a man-made disaster."

The parish began asking how it could be present in the community at that time of emotional pain and healing.

"You can't forget something like that," Russell said. "What you can do is try to recover and move on."

In the fall of 2007, the church invited the Rev. Lyndon Harris of New York to speak about forgiveness. Harris represented a larger project called "Gardens of Forgiveness," and it was through this project that the congregation would get the idea of bringing a labyrinth to the church.

The project began in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and provides venues around the world where people can reflect.

Gardens of Forgiveness is currently working at devastated sites in Rwanda and Lebanon.

Instead of planting a garden, the Christ Episcopal Church parish chose to build a stone labyrinth in the courtyard.

A labyrinth kit was purchased online, and Ben Johnson, member of the parish and a landscape architecture professor at Virginia Tech, was chosen to oversee the project. Members of the community and church volunteered their time and together completed the 21-foot labyrinth in late August.

"The labyrinth isn't meant to serve as a memorial," Russell said. "It's an offering to the community -- to the world -- as a place of healing, meditation and peace."

Russell said the labyrinth is symbolic of life's journey, and to wind your way through it is like winding your way through the trials and tribulations of all human beings.

Aside from its spiritual aspect, the labyrinth is also opening up access to the church. The structure's solid surface will enable people in wheelchairs to navigate more easily in and out of the building.

Future additions to the structure include installing lights so visitors can enjoy the site during evening hours.