Presbytery Mourns the Loss of Life in Charleston

The Presbytery of Coastal Carolina joins a whole host of other Christians who are mourning the loss of Rev. Clementa Pinckney and the eight others killed this week at Emanuel AME Zion Church in Charleston, SC.  We have sent a contribution to the church to assist with burial costs, hospitality, and/or mission outreach by the congregation in ways that honor the legacy of Rev. Pinckney and the others who died.

Leaders of Charleston Atlantic Presbytery, our partner presbytery in the Charleston area, are actively involved in supporting the community of Charleston in their moment of loss.

We, as members of this presbytery, can join them in prayers for the congregation and its members and friends as well as in fostering an atmosphere that resists the reported characterization of any of God’s children in ways that would lead anyone to believe that they are a threat. Let us resolve once again to work together for the Beloved Community to which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Pinckney, and a whole host of others have committed themselves.

Bill Reinhold, General Presbyter