Fayetteville church holds community prayer vigil for Charleston victims
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Members of the St. Luke AME Church in Fayetteville opened their doors and their hearts Monday in a community-wide prayer vigil for the shooting victims at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
That shooting last Wednesday night left nine church members at Emanuel AME, including the pastor, dead.
St. Luke AME on Hillsborough Street in Fayetteville is a sister church to Emanuel AME. During Monday's vigil, those in attendance sang praises and prayed for strength and hope for those in Charleston impacted by the tragedy there.
They also prayed for forgiveness for the 21-year-old man charged with those murders.
The one hour vigil drew people from other faiths and churches who wanted to add their voices to the choir of support for Emanuel AME.
Several families sat together. One mother said she brought her 7-year-old daughter to the vigil so she could see that something positive could come from something that was so terrible.
White bows and ribbons on the fence in front of the church represented the nine lives taken so violently.
St. Luke AME members said they will keep their sister congregation in their thoughts and prayers as Emanuel AME church members begin saying their goodbyes to the victims later this week.
