The pipe organ chimed nine times Thursday night at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Each chime was in honor a life lost during the shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. — Cynthia Hurd, Suzy Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, De'Payne Middleton-Doctor, Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson.
As the hymns from the choir echoed against the walls and rose heavenward, more than 250 people of different races, ages and faiths gathered in the historic sanctuary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"Some might ask, 'How can we praise God in a moment like this?'" said Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist. "It's a serious question."
It was a question Rabbi Lydia Medwin from the Temple in Midtown could answer. Medwin said gathering in a church was the best way these people could help their community in a time of such tragedy.
"It is not our job to understand," she said. "It is our job to pray."
The Episcopal bishop of Atlanta insisted that the faithful's silence on gun laws must come to end.
"The faith community cannot be coward to talk about it," said the Right Rev. Robert Wright. "We've got to stop this silly silence."
Deanna Drafts of Dunwoody said she couldn't stay silent, which is why she attended the service.
"My heart was hurting all day," she said. "The killer is from my home. It really hit home for me."
Drafts wanted to be around people of different races and experiences. Today, she said, these differences could be put aside to come together and honor the innocent lives lost.
For Christine King Farris, the eldest and only living sibling of King, the shooting brought back sad memories.
"That was the way my mother was taken," she said.
But Farris hopes vigils like these will have a healing effect.
"We have to work to bring a community together where you love and respect one another," she said.
With all of the racial and ethnic differences of the group that congregated at Ebenezer Baptist had, they walked out of the church with a common bond.
"We are all AME tonight," Warnock said. "All of us carry the name Emanuel."
About the Author
