Emanuel 9 A Service of Commemoration, Confession and Recommitment
As part of the 2019 ELCA Church-wide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9 —the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. The perpetrator was a young white man, a member of an ELCA Lutheran congregation. Because of this person’s affiliation with our denomination, we have felt compelled to work towards recommitment to the cause to fight racism in our midst, and around us.