Duluth Congregation Remembers Victims Of S.C. Church Shooting

Hope for healing and time for reflection brought many together at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth on Thursday.

The service remembered the lives of the nine who died at the hands of a gunman at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in June of 2015.

Music filled the church to mourn the deaths of those killed and to offer prayers for the church, healing, and even the gunman.

Those in attendance said the service was also a way for the church to recommit themselves against violence and racism.

“Too often these things happen. We shake our heads. We feel bad, we wonder what we can do and then we forget and they happen again. We hope this is a small piece of changing the narrative and creating something new,” said Pilgrim’s interim Pastor Jennifer Amy-Dressler.

Each of the nine names was read along with a biography and a candle was lit in their remembrance.

The event was part of an initiative of the Minnesota Council of Churches. Every week for an entire year a church in the state will host a weekday memorial service.