( CNN ) -- Pastor Brady Boyd calls it the `` highlight of my ministry '' -- seeing the parents of the man who shot up his church be embraced by the parents of two teenage sisters who were killed in the attack . A former roommate took this photo of Matthew Murray performing in a 2002 Christmas program . `` The four of them met and hugged and cried , '' said Boyd , the senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs , Colorado . `` It made me evaluate my own life and think , 'Is there anyone I 'm not forgiving ? ' '' Boyd was referring to a meeting on January 3 between Ron and Loretta Murray , whose 24-year-old son Matthew carried out the December 9 attack at New Life Church , and David and Marie Works , whose daughters , Stephanie , 18 , and Rachael , 16 , were killed in the rampage . David Works also was wounded in the shootings . Learn more about the victims » . The pastor said he invited the Murrays to visit the New Life campus after praying over the holidays . The family immediately accepted his invitation and was given a guided `` step-by-step '' tour of where the rampage took place and shown where their son died . `` It was extremely emotional . They wanted to hear the details . I kept telling them I would stop with details , but they wanted to hear them , '' he told CNN in a phone interview this week . At one point , the parents also met with security guard Jeanne Assam , who shot their son in the leg before he turned his gun on himself . The parents thanked Assam for her swift action and for helping save more lives , said Casey Nikoloric , a Murray family spokeswoman and long-time friend . `` They told Assam that they were so deeply sorry she had to do what she did , '' said Nikoloric . `` There were tears , lots of embraces , prayers . '' The visit , she said , was `` very , very , very important '' in the healing process for the Murrays as they deal with the loss of their son and the terror he inflicted . Boyd agreed . `` I thought this would be best for the Murrays , '' he said , adding that it touched everyone involved . `` I 've never seen repentance and forgiveness as profound as I did that day . '' The Murrays toured the church with their other son , Christopher , 20 , a student at Oral Roberts University . The Murrays met the Works in Boyd 's office . He said he also asked the Murrays to share `` some of the good memories '' of Matthew as a boy . `` It put it in context : This kid was raised in an upper middle-class home and had every chance to do well , '' Boyd said . `` You wonder what went wrong for Matthew . They described Matthew as any parent would describe their son . '' The pastor said he did n't tell many people about the meeting before it happened , fearing it `` could have gotten volatile and hostile . '' `` It was risky , but I knew enough about the Murrays to know they were mature and good people , '' he said . On Sunday , he began his sermon by telling his congregation about what had transpired just a few days earlier . He was met with loud applause . Matthew Murray began his assault that day at the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada , Colorado , killing two people -- Tiffany Johnson , 26 , and Philip Crouse , 24 -- and wounding two others before he went to the New Life Church , about 80 miles away . The Murrays visited the mission center December 12 and met with the families of the slain victims , according to Nikoloric . `` The depth of our sorrow and our grief is greater than we could possibly describe , '' the Murrays said in a written statement . `` But with thanks to God , these remarkable families and their pastors and churches , healing and reconciliation have begun . '' E-mail to a friend .
Parents of church shooter meet with victims ' family . They `` met and hugged and cried , '' pastor says . Matthew Murray , 24 , killed four people in two shootings , before killing himself . His parents also thanked guard who shot their son .