Early one Sunday morning, Youth Director Caylee Dugger preached on Revelation 7:9-17 to the First Baptist Church North Kansas City, Missouri’s Women Missionary Union. It would be her last sermon, as hours later, she was killed in a three-car pileup on her way from Kansas City to Texas. Dugger died on the scene while one other individual was treated at the hospital for injuries, and another reported no injuries. Dugger was thirty years old and a student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She planned to graduate with a Master of Theological Studies in Missions this spring and then pursue a Master of Divinity in International Church Planting.
Associate Pastor Mike Parrett of First Baptist Church delivered a message to the congregation following Dugger’s death and spoke of her love for Jesus and the powerful message she shared with the Women Missionary Union. Reading from Revelation 7:9-17, he noted how verse 15 says, “They are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.” “Caylee is at the throne of the Lord. And He is there with her and she with Him, and she is worshiping Him, and He is loving her,” he said. The church began their service with a video of Dugger performing her song “Hands.” The song includes the lines “I know You are a good God / In the hands of a good God / My suffering is never for nothing.” “As we grieve together, we [do not] grieve as those that do not have hope; we do have hope,” Parrett said. “We are ones that have hope, this hope that Caylee reminded us of, this Scripture that she taught from. We do have hope,” he said.
Jeffrey Allen, president of Midwestern Seminary, mourned the loss, saying, “The entire seminary community mourns the passing of Caylee Dugger. She was a delightful young woman, devoted to seeing others come to faith in Christ. Even as we grieve, we grieve not as those without hope. Our hope is in Christ – as was Caylee’s.” His wife, Karen Allen, who is the director of the Midwestern Women’s Institute, shared her grief as well. “I was deeply saddened to learn this morning of Caylee’s tragic car wreck yesterday afternoon. To know Caylee was to love Caylee. Her deep passion for the nations was evident, and I know the ladies in Midwestern Women’s Institute will greatly miss her, as will I,” she said.
A GoFundMe was set up for expenses by Dugger’s family. “We have been amazingly encouraged by the messages of so many different people who were personally impacted by Caylee’s life,” her brother, Joseph Dugger, wrote on the fund. “It is clear that in her 30 years, Caylee made an unbelievable impact on everyone she encountered. We are sad, broken, and hurting. And yet, we have found such peace in knowing that Caylee is in the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – and that her incredible faith has been given sight. Even in the midst of this tremendous sorrow and grief, God has given us joy,” he added.
