Community Prayer Service Remembers Charleston Nine

Stephens County comes together to pray for Charleston, South Carolina.

Thursday night, an inter-denominational prayer service to remember the nine worshipers killed last week at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston was held at the First United Methodist Church in Toccoa.

First United Methodist Church Senior Minister the Rev. John Brown said the service provided a chance for people of all churches and all races to come together with a single message.

“We come before the Lord tonight to say that as His people, we stand and we say ‘no’ to evil and we say ‘no’ to hatred and that we affirm for the world tonight that evil does not have the last word, but God does,” said the Rev. Brown.

Those in attendance prayed for not just Emanuel A.M.E. Church and the city of Charleston, but also for an end to violence and racism.

Trinity C.M.E. Church Senior Pastor the Rev. James Clements said that it is important for all churches to come together and put aside their differences.

“It does not matter how big your church is,” said the Rev. Clements. “It does not matter how small your church is. It does not matter how dark your skin is. It does not matter how curly or straight your hair is. We are all a part of the body of Christ.”

First Presbyterian Church Pastor the Rev. David Keister said it is in that coming together of churches for a common goal that people can find hope out of this tragedy.

He said that hope started with the love shown by the people of Emanuel A.M.E. Church in their reaction to what happened.

“If we are somehow able to take the events of last Wednesday and add into those the wonderful response not only of that church, which laid the foundation for what we can be and can do, if we take this as a challenge to live like that from this day forward and not forget this happened in a few weeks and go back to our old ways of living, if we can find a way to do that, then the deaths of those nine will not have been in vain,” said the Rev. Keister.

Meanwhile, St. Matthias Episcopal Church Rector the Very Rev. Mary Demmler said that it is when people bring together the light that each person has inside of them, that light can change the world and make it a better place.

Thursday’s service also included special music from a number of different churches and the collection of an offering that will be donated to Emanuel A.M.E. Church.