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As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members\u00a0adopted a resolution<\/a>\u00a0designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9\u2014the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.<\/p>\n The resources referenced below are provided to help synods and congregations mark this commemoration. These resources can be adapted for virtual worship, online conversation, or individual reflection and devotion. You are invited to use them in whatever ways are most helpful for your local context.<\/p>\n Our relationship to the shooter, as well as two of the slain, reminds us of both our complicity and our calling. 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 \u201chas broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us\u201d (Ephesians 2:14). May God continue to guide us as we seek repentance and renewal, and racial justice and reconciliation among God\u2019s precious children.<\/p>\n The following paragraph describing this commemoration could be provided for congregations in resources such as service folders.<\/em><\/p>\n On June 17, 2015, Clementa C. 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. Pastors Pinckney and Simmons were both graduates of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. 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. Congregations of the ELCA are encouraged reaffirm their commitment to repenting of the sins of racism and white supremacy which continue to plague this church, to venerate the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine, and to mark this day of penitence with study and prayer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n On June 17, 2020, the ELCA offered an online\u00a0Prayer Service for Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine<\/a>. This marked the fifth anniversary of the evening nine people were shot and killed during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. and the first official commemoration following the 2019 Churchwide Assembly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For many decades, the\u00a0Evangelical Lutheran Church in America<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0African Methodist Episcopal Church<\/a>\u00a0have been ecumenical partners through coalitions such as the\u00a0National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA<\/a>\u00a0(NCC). In the 1990s, our two churches entered into theological dialogue seeking full communion and co-published a\u00a0congregational resource<\/a>. Our churches have also engaged in various forms of cooperation and public witness, together and with other ecumenical partners. We have participated in the cross-racial dialogue of the\u00a0Conference of National Black Churches<\/a>\u00a0since 2015 and in the NCC\u2019s\u00a0A.C.T. to End Racism<\/a>\u00a0initiative since 2018. While the Office of the Presiding Bishop attends to church-to-church relations nationally, vital regional and local relations have been cultivated across the ELCA by bishops, rostered ministers and lay leaders, with key leadership from Lutherans of African descent. We continue to seek ways to deepen and expand our partnership across various ministry contexts as part of our ecumenical commitments and churchwide resolutions, and we invite you to join in these efforts in your own communities.\u00a0Learn More<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members\u00a0adopted a resolution\u00a0designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9\u2014the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. The resources referenced below are provided to help synods […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":9580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n
Emanuel Nine, martyrs, 2015<\/h2>\n
\nWorship resources<\/h2>\n
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\n2020 ELCA Prayer Service<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nEcumenical partnership<\/h2>\n
\nBooks<\/h2>\n
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\nSharei Green and Beckah Selnick deconstruct anti-Blackness in Christian theology by celebrating instances in the story of God’s people when darkness, blackness, and night are beautiful, good, and holy.<\/li>\n
\nAfter the world witnessed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a passionate uprising erupted, with the intersection of 38th and Chicago at its epicenter. One block away stood Calvary Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation whose members had engaged in racial justice work for years<\/li>\n
\nRev. Dr. Yolanda Denson-Byers offers an honest and unflinching look at the challenges faced by leaders of color in the predominantly white ELCA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\nAdditional ELCA\u00a0resources<\/h2>\n
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\nThe ELCA, in partnership with Augsburg Fortress, will join the movement of racial healing for our church and the nation. This day is designed to raise awareness of the need for racial healing and to inspire collective action to build common ground for a more just and equitable ELCA and world.<\/li>\n
\nResources for the Commemoration of the Emanuel 9.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\nAdditional Emanuel Nine resources<\/h2>\n
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\nELCA members are encouraged to give both prayer and financial support to this memorial project at Mother Emanuel Church. The memorial is dedicated to reversing the spread of hate with a message of unyielding love and forgiveness.<\/li>\n
\nA 2019 documentary film,\u00a0study guide<\/a>\u00a0produced in partnership with Sojourners. The film\u202fis available for rental or purchase on major streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play.<\/li>\n
\nJune 26, 2015.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"