A resolution to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance for the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine was adopted by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on August 8, 2019.
Pastors Pinckney and Simmons were both graduates of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Lee Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson were murdered by a self-professed white supremacist while they were gathered for Bible study and prayer at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often referred to as Mother Emanuel) in Charleston, South Carolina. The following paragraph describing this commemoration could be provided for congregations in resources such as service folders. May God continue to guide us as we seek repentance and renewal, and racial justice and reconciliation among God’s precious children. Together we confess that we are in bondage to the sins of racism and white supremacy and, at the same time, we rejoice in the freedom that is ours in Christ Jesus who “has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (Ephesians 2:14). Our relationship to the shooter, as well as two of the slain, reminds us of both our complicity and our calling. You are invited to use them in whatever ways are most helpful for your local context. These resources can be adapted for virtual worship, online conversation, or individual reflection and devotion.
The resources referenced below are provided to help synods and congregations mark this commemoration.
As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9-the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
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