JOPLIN, Mo. — Following the 2012 shooting of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a Lutheran church in southwestern Missouri sent its comfort dogs, Louie and Jackson, with their handlers to console the grieving community.

On Sunday, seven comfort dogs from across the country came to Immanuel Lutheran Church to do the same in the wake of a shooting spree in Joplin that left five people — including three members of the Immanuel congregation — and both Louie and Jackson injured.

Saturday’s shooting injured Kenneth Eby, Karen Mech and Heidi Gustin — and the two comfort dogs as the team was traveling by van to St. Louis for training. Mech, Gustin and the comfort dogs have been released; Eby was still in the hospital Sunday.

Joplin police said Sunday that a child in the van, Timothy Mozolik, was taken to a local hospital overnight Saturday after the discovery of a three-inch laceration and bruising that was consistent with a graze wound. He was treated and released, police said.

Also injured in the shooting were Donal and Debbie Pugh, who were driving in another vehicle. The suspect, Tom S. Mourning II, 26, has been charged with multiple counts of armed criminal action, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon in Jasper and Newton counties.

Lutheran Church Charities — a domestic and international nonprofit support ministry of the Lutheran Church — brought the comfort dogs, mostly golden retrievers, to Immanuel. The dogs lined up and greeted members of the congregation as they came to worship on Sunday morning. Members petted, sat with and even reclined next to the dogs. Their handlers greeted the congregation with smiles and gentle words.

In recent years, the use of therapy and comfort dogs in schools, senior living facilities and hospitals nationwide has become increasingly commonplace with many of the dogs quickly becoming welcomed, comforting resources and companions.

Jason Glaskey, minister to families and youth at Immanuel, said that the visiting comfort dogs were filling in because Louie and Jackson were recovering. When family gets hurt, their family comes to visit, he said.

Citing a verse on Jackson’s card — which is handed out to people the dog meets — Glaskey emphasized the importance of being together at a time like this.

“Romans 12:15 says, ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn,'” he said. “My comfort dog family and my church family is here to help me in this sad time. I spent some time yesterday mourning with my friends, but also rejoicing because we have everybody safe. Our comfort dogs are going to be OK; our people are going to be OK. So we also rejoice that God is with us all the time.”

One church member visiting the dogs was Sandy King — a handler for Immanuel’s comfort dogs who traveled to Newtown after the 2012 shooting.

“It’s very important that they’re here,” she said. “We’ve worked with some of these dogs before; they’re our friends.”

King said that in Newtown, the people who visited with the dogs experienced relief and release. It’s a feeling she knows well.

“I was involved in the 2011 tornado,” she said, referring to the local storm that killed 162 people and leveled a third of the town. “When I visited our dogs, I could bury my head in their furry face and not have to talk to people. People sometimes can feel freer to seek comfort in animals than in people.”

Rich Martin, of Northbrook, Illinois, received the message on Saturday to travel with his comfort dog, Luther, to Joplin; the pair arrived late that night. It was important to Martin to be at the church for Sunday services, he said.

“We’re a family,” Martin said. “We’re a national ministry, but we’re also a family. There’s been an explosion on social media and an outpouring of support. If every handler in the country could be here, they would. We’re the body of Christ.”

Vicki Eby, who was in the Immanuel van when it was shot, also came to visit the dogs on Sunday morning. Her husband, Ken, was still in the intensive care unit with bullet damage to his lungs.

Eby spoke tearfully about the outpouring of support from the congregation in the form of visits, food and open doors. For her, having the dogs and their handlers in church was support from an extended family.

“I’m a comfort dog handler myself; I never thought I’d be on the other side,” she said. “We’re a tight-knit family. I’ve been on deployments with some of these people before. It means a lot that they’re here. It gives you something to focus on so you can let it out.”

Nomer writes for the Joplin, Missouri Globe.