Covenant News
Crowd Grieves for Slain Officer
LOS ANGELES, CA (November 24, 2003) - Memorial services were held Friday (November 22) at Forest Lawn Memorial Park for Matthew Pavelka, a slain Burbank, California, police officer who grew up at the Evangelical Covenant Church of Simi Valley.Pavelka of Santa Clarita was killed on November 15 after being shot during a traffic stop. He was the first officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty in the department's 82-year history. One of the two suspects in the shooting escaped and is still at large. The other was killed in a shootout with officers.
A 2000 graduate of the Ventura County police academy, Pavelka had worked for less than a year as a patrol officer in Burbank. He was backing up Officer Gregory Campbell during a traffic stop near Burbank Airport when the occupants of the car opened fire at them. Pavelka died during emergency surgery at a local hospital and Campbell remains hospitalized.
Pavelka grew up in Simi Valley with his parents and brother, Nick. He attended the Simi Valley Covenant Church, was on the wrestling team at his high school and served in the U.S. Air Force as a military policeman before entering the police academy.
Those at Friday's funeral included California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Bill Lockyer. The attorney general spoke during the service, directly addressing Pavelka's parents, Sue and Mike. Mike Pavelka is a veteran Los Angeles police detective.
Covenant minister Kurt Fredrickson, former pastor of Simi Valley Covenant Church, preached at the memorial service. "We gather here to say goodbye and we wish we didn't have to be here," he said. "We shouldn't be here today. Parents are not supposed to bury their son. Police officers are not supposed to die protecting and serving. Criminals are not supposed to win a round."
Fredrickson also reminded those gathered at the service of Pavelka's faith. "We gather here - in sadness and in turmoil - but also in hope," he said. "Matt had a faith in God expressed through Jesus Christ and that gave Matt's life a perspective broader than the routines of life, stronger than the bumps of life, and victorious even in the darkest of storms of life - for this is a hope that extends beyond the grave.
"Matt clung to and lived out this faith. A faith that says death does not have the last word and evil does not win. A faith that says God has the ultimate victory. That God is the one who creates a new future, a new bright day where there is no death, or sorrow, or crying or pain - for the old world and its evils are gone forever.
"God makes all things new. And Matt - our strong, gentle son, colleague, brother, and friend - would want us this day to cling to that same faith."
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