Tragedy struck the congregation and day school at Grace Episcopal Church, Orange Park, Fla., early Tuesday morning.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says that Jerry Waite Whitelaw, Jr., 49, killed his two children, Kevin, 16, and daughter, Katie, 11, as they slept at home. Then Mr. Whitelaw killed himself, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Whitelaw’s wife, Dana, was showering during the murders and called the sheriff’s office when she discovered the bodies at about 6 a.m.

The family attended Grace and Mrs. Whitelaw worked as an administrative assistant at Grace’s day school, where Katie attended sixth grade. Kevin was active in Happening, a youth version of Cursillo.

Mrs. Whitelaw had filed for divorce after 16 years of marriage, but Mr. Whitelaw had continued living with the family in a gated community neighborhood known as Margaret’s Walk.

“It’s a terrible tragedy,” the Rev. Kurt Dunkle, rector at Grace, told The Florida Times-Union. “Only God, in situations like this, can pick up the pieces and know what to do at all. We’re extraordinarily sad at what has happened, and our prayers are with the entire family.”

Fr. Dunkle is one of six nominees in the Diocese of Louisiana’s search for its 11th bishop.

“I spoke with Fr. Dunkle earlier today and assured him that the Diocese of Louisiana will lift him, his church, and the family so horribly traumatized by these events in prayer in the coming days,” said David Pitts, chairman of the episcopate committee, in a statement [PDF] issued Tuesday. “Fr. Dunkle will make every effort to be in Louisiana to meet with the clergy on Friday and the laity on Saturday at the walkabouts, but we all most certainly understand that he will need to respond to this pastoral emergency as the situation continues to develop.”

Grace convened a prayer service of light on Tuesday evening.

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