General Secretary Roy Medley extends, on behalf of American Baptist Churches, our deepest Christian sympathies to the members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and the AME family at large for the murders they have endured in yet another senseless act of gun violence. We are both shocked and outraged by the crime that occurred on Wednesday night, June 17, and the ongoing assaults that are all too common in America. While the killer’s motives in this instance are not known, the potential racial overtones only add to our anguish and fears as a community.

Our prayers are with these our brothers and sisters in Christ for strength and comfort and for our country in the midst of an epidemic of pervasive random violence.

The Ministers Council, ABCUSA, also released a statement offering hopes and prayers and declaring, “We cannot be silent.”

“We pray that God would bless and comfort the families of those who were slain. We ask God to be with the members of the Emanuel AME Church, and the people of Charleston, SC. We take comfort in the fact that God is an ever present help in the time of trouble, and we pray that God’s Spirit would draw us together and heal our hurt.” Read the full statement from The Ministers Council, here.