Several areas churches say they intend to address their congregations following the tragic shooting at a church in southeast Texas.

The horror unfolded around 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday during a service at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, 30 miles southeast of San Antonio.

That’s when the shooter, identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, walked into the church and killed 26 people, injuring 20 others.

Kelley was found dead in his vehicle. He had three gunshot wounds — two from where an armed man hit him in the leg and the torso and the third a self-inflicted wound to the head, authorities said.

The shooting has hit close to home with several local churches, including Effort United Methodist Church in Effort.

“We certainly will be praying for the families of those affected this coming Sunday,” said Robin Fisher, one of the church’s pastors. “I’ll probably share in the prayer time Sunday morning about our brothers and sisters that all of us are connected as the bodies of Christ, so we need to be praying for our brothers and sisters who have been affected by this tragedy.”

Fisher added, “It was interesting that the message this past Sunday was praying for those who persecute us, and a number of people said to me that we need to be praying for the parents of this young man who did this, as well as the victims.

“I posted on Facebook something like ‘another church shooting in Sutherland Springs Texas, lord deliver us from evil,’ and some people responded from the church because it hit home with a lot of us,” she said. “Not something you would expect in a church.”

Fisher said the church expects to provide a Stop the Bleed Program sometime in the near future, which would deal with any type of mass injury situation to care for people as effectively as possible in the event of such a situation, and noted that the church had training several years ago that included active shooting situations.

The church has applied for grants for a security system, and plans to do so again, Fisher said.

“Our trustees are very alert to any situation that might be an unusual situation,” she said. “I’m very thankful for such a strong board of trustees.”

Pastor Marshall Wolverton of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lehighton said, “Anytime something like this happens to a church, regardless of the denomination, it hits close to home. It especially hits close to home for us, because First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, is a close-knit country church, very similar to ours in Franklin Township.”

“I can’t imagine the sense of loss they are feeling as a church family, and as a small-town community,” Wolverton said. “We have certainly been in prayer for them.”

Wolverton said they had a special time of prayer for First Baptist Church last Sunday evening, as well as their Wednesday evening prayer meeting this week.

He added, “I will be telling our congregation that we live in a wonderful country, but sadly, our country has many individuals who are filled with anger and hate, for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, some of these individuals make dark, evil choices to harm innocent people by shooting people at a concert (Las Vegas), shooting people at church (most recently Sutherland Springs), or running people over with a vehicle, like happened in NYC recently.

“Some even choose to shoot police officers at traffic stops, like happened to trooper Seth Kelly this week. Our prayers go out to him as well.”

Despite that, Wolverton said, “It is important that we do not let fear rule the day, by causing us to stay locked up in our homes.

“We must continue to live our lives, worship God, serve in our churches and communities, and pray for our country,” he said. “We need to continue our task to try and make a difference in this world for good, by reflecting the love and the light of Jesus Christ to those around us.”

Wolverton said the church is taking a look at its security.

“We currently have some security measures in place, but we are currently re-evaluating our security measures in light of what happened in Texas,” he said. “It is important for people to feel safe and be safe when they attend church services.”