A different kind of grief takes hold when a death happens suddenly and violently.

“It’s an absolute shock,” says Brady Boyd, senior pastor of New Life Church.

Boyd spent several hours Tuesday with the parents and wife of El Paso County Deputy Micah Flick, who was killed Monday while working a stolen car investigation.

“They are heartbroken and devastated by the loss,” Boyd said. “But they’re resilient. They’re good people, and their faith is strong. So I have a lot of hope for them.”

A public memorial is tentatively set for 1 p.m. Saturday at New Life Church, 11025 Voyager Parkway, Boyd said.

He expects “standing-room only” in his church’s auditorium, which seats 6,000.

“We are all busy, getting our building ready to receive guests from all over our country,” Boyd said. “When a police officer has fallen, honor guards from all over the United States will be here, so we’re hosting a national event for people who want to show their support for Micah.”

Flick, 34, had been a member of New Life Church for 20 years, Boyd said. He and his wife, Rachael, were married at New Life and regularly attended services with their 7-year-old twins, a girl and a boy. Rachael leads a 300-member Mother of Preschoolers group at the church as well.

“As Christ followers, we are a people who believe in hope; we don’t believe death has the final word over our lives,” Boyd said. “We believe we are eternal beings and will spend eternity with Christ. Our only hope in times like this is Christ is with us.”

Everyone who knew Flick says the same things about him, Boyd said.

“He was full of life, zeal and passion for his job, and he took it very seriously,” he said. “He was very faithful.”

New Life Church also hosted the last memorial service for a fallen law enforcement member in Colorado Springs. Officer Garrett Swasey, who was on the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs police force, died in a 2015 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

“We love that we have a big building, we hate it keeps getting used for these kinds of public memorial services,” Boyd said. “This is devastating for our community because both were upstanding, good men who got into law enforcement for the right reasons. To have their lives taken in such senseless ways in needless acts of violence is awful.”