Charleston Church Mourns, Celebrates Lives Lost
CHARLESTON, S.C. Last week's massacre at South Carolina's Emanuel AME Church has prompted some calls for gun restrictions, as well as for the Confederate flag to be taken down.
But some say now is not the time to debate those issues. Rather, this is a time to mourn and a time to celebrate the lives that were lost.
That process unfolded Sunday at "Mother Emanuel," where worship resumed just four days after 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof killed nine people during Bible study.
Longtime members prayed for this day, but it's not easy.
"These are all fine people," one church member said. "There four ministers that we lost in this church, and they are great people. They are absolutely great people. I will never forget about this day."
Tears gave way to worship inside the sanctuary, which was packed with visitors, parishioners, and politicians, including Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
"My uncle went to Emanuel for more than 30 years before his death. For me, it's a real personal experience and loss," the South Carolina lawmaker said.
Scott is the first African-American elected to the Senate from South Carolina. He was also a personal friend of Clementa Pinckney, Emanuel's pastor and a state senator. The 41- year-old was one of the nine people killed in the massacre.
"I am a Republican; he was a Democrat," Scott said. "But when we were together, you would not be able to tell the difference because when we were together, we weren't talking politics."
"We weren't talking philosophical positions from a political perspective," he continued. "We talked about his family, his faith, the power of hope and the power of love."
Five years ago, CBN News witnessed Pastor Pinckney's love firsthand at a great gathering of men on a mission to help children in need.
"Even for those of us who come from homes where there are no fathers, there are always father figures," the late pastor told CBN News at the time.
Pinckney became that figure for Kyle Greene, who grew up in the small town of Ridgeland with an absent father and a mother on drugs.
"He saw something in me that I didn't see in my own self, and that was my potential to be great," Greene told CBN News.
"And I think, unknowingly to me, he poured into it," he said. "And so I am going to miss that more than anything - his ability to pour into my potential to be great."
A pastor's love is also palpable here outside the church, days after the hate-driven shooting spree. It's evident in the spontaneous worship that erupts on the street.
New York University student Zach Schwarzbaum and his college buddies travelled from Manhattan to offer their support to the grieving congregation.
"It is really moving to see the outpouring of love and support from the community," Schwarzbaum said.
Pastor Dimas Salaberrios, pastor of Infinity Church in Bronx, New York, joined eight ministers from the Big Apple and New Jersey to pray with victims family members.
"It helps the healing process when white, black, Asian, Latino begin to come together in unity to say we are not a part of Dylann's foolishness," he told CBN News. "We are here to say we are standing with the church and with their families and those that are hurt."
"Let's live out , where God said the world will know we are His disciples by our love towards one towards another," he said.
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