‘A message to every demon’
EMANUEL A.M.E. WORSHIP: South Carolina church embraces strangers in wake of horrific shooting
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church opened its tall, wooden doors to the world Sunday, embracing strangers who walked in from the street or tuned in from home for the first worship service since a white gunman was accused of killing nine black church members.
It was that same hospitality that allowed the suspected gunman to be welcomed into a Bible study for about an hour before he allegedly stood up, made racially offensive remarks and opened fire in the church known as Mother Emanuel because it is one of the oldest black congregations in the South.
“I was so pleased when authorities told us you can go back into Mother Emanuel to worship,” said Rev. Norvel Goff, a presiding elder of the 7th District AME Church in South Carolina, before adding a note of defiance to a service sprinkled with themes of love, recovery and healing.
“Some folks might need some more time in order to walk in. But for those of us who are here this morning ... because the doors of Mother Emanuel are open on this Sunday, it sends a message to every demon in hell and on Earth.”
For added security, police officers stood watch over worshippers. Some congregation members stood to applaud when Goff thanked law enforcement for their response to the shooting.
Goff was appointed to lead the historic Charleston church after Emanuel’s senior pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was fatally shot during the massacre. A black sheet was draped over Pinckney’s usual chair, which sat empty. At least one parishioner knelt down in front of it and prayed.
As Emanuel’s congregation belted out a gospel hymn, church bells rang throughout the “Holy City” — nicknamed because of the numerous churches here.
Later Sunday, people were expected to gather on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge to join hands in solidarity.
The bridge is named after a former state lawmaker and vocal Confederate flag supporter.
The slayings have renewed calls for the flag to be removed from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds, in part because photographs of suspect Dylann Roof in a purported manifesto showed him holding Confederate flags. The 2,500-word manifesto also contained hate-filled writings.