June 19, 2015

From Boo Sheppard, Moderator of CBFSC and Jay Kieve, Coordinator for CBFSC

While we are attending the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General Assembly, whose theme is “Building Bridges,” our hearts are broken that a Bible study and prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church ended with murder at the hand of a gunman.

We cannot comprehend the depths of grief experienced by the victim’s families or the members of the Emanuel AME congregation. In sadness we share the experience of loss of our brothers and sisters in Christ and grieve that racial prejudice inspired the violence. We believe that the love of Jesus is stronger than hate and that the uniting power of God is stronger than any human difference.

Therefore, we renew our commitment to prayer for the families and congregation in grief. We renew our commitment to join our voices with those who call for justice in the land. And we renew our commitment to listening, learning, and seeking relationships of solidarity that build bridges across racial and social divides. We invite our friends in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina and beyond to join their prayers, voices, and relationships with ours