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Saturday, April 27, 2002

By Dennis B. Roddy, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The funeral program for Adam Fredrick Bishop said he was born Oct. 23, 1983, was baptized Jan. 8, 1984, and died April 19, 2002 and, "in addition to his parents, he is survived by a brother, Ian A. Bishop of Greensburg."

Ian Bishop, 14, is charged with beating Adam to death with a hammer. As Adam Bishop's family, classmates and church gathered for his funeral last night in the Westmoreland County city of Jeannette, Ian sat in the county prison facing murder charges.

The service at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church was for Adam. But Ian was a constant presence.

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The Rev. Daniel R. Defassio offered a sermon that included condolences to Jeffrey and Karen Bishop, Adam's parents, and also to Ian.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Do not let your hearts be troubled," he told them.

The church, a gleaming edifice of burnished wood and shining white plaster, was filled with more than 400 people. The Bishops sat in front, he cradling her head as the congregation soldiered through three songs that Adam, who sometimes filled in as organist, was to play during worship services last Saturday.

They sang "Amazing Grace," the hymn penned by a reformed slave trader more than 200 years ago. They sang "You Who Dwell in the Shelter of the Lord," with its promise to raise the dead up on eagle's wings. They sang the words set to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," but they sang them through tears as Adam Bishop's cremated remains were carried through the back of the church. A tiny, white funeral pall laid over the wooden box that held Adam's remains.

Adults in suits cast pained glances toward the front. A few teen-age girls, some still so new to the adult world that they occasionally stumbled on their high heels, wept with abandon.

Some worshippers wore printed badges reading "Our God is Merciful. Please Pray for Ian. We Love Him."

One of them, the Rev. Hans O. Andrae, said all he could do was pray. He had baptized Ian Bishop in 1985 shortly after arriving at Holy Trinity. Andrae left the congregation in 1996, but sat near the back of the church yesterday to pray.

"I got to know this wonderful family," Andrae said. Both Jeffrey and Karen Bishop were involved in adult religious education. Adam filled in as organist and pianist and was a member of the Order of Demolay, a Masonic group for teen-agers.

"There are evil forces around us," Andrae said. "We don't know what happened, but Ian did something evil as we all do. We don't know why he did this. Really, why did he do it?"

Members of the congregation puzzled over that amid a swirl of speculation about what came between the brothers that Friday afternoon one week ago.

"If the police know, it hasn't been released," said Jack Terrill, a church official. He said the congregation likely will rally in an effort to forgive Ian Bishop.

Explained Andrae, the minister who baptized the accused: "We should not sit on a high pedestal and say Ian is a hopeless case. For all of us, there is Amazing Grace."