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CHARLESTON, S.C. -- "Will you pray for me? I will pray for you. ... And we will watch God change things!" shouted the Rev. Dr. Eric S.C. Manning from the historic pulpit of Mother Emanuel church here in the deep South.
A musically gifted congregation roared back their approval and sang their response, "I will pray for you! ... Will you please pray for me? ... And we will watch God change things!"
On each repetition, every person in attendance pointed to someone around them as they exclaimed they would pray for them, and then alternately with their facial expressions asked if the person would indeed pray for them in return.
Throughout the 2.5-hour service, I'd already cried several times, moved by the beauty of it all. But at this moment, after having just worshipped and taken communion with the gracious people around me, this divinely inspired love drew even more tears.
This gesture of friendship and intimacy coming from a faith community who knows so much pain broke down any defenses I had left, and the joy cascaded down my cheeks.
Eleven years on from the night in which nine members of their church, including four pastors, were murdered because of one young man's hate, this congregation instead chooses love.
Honestly, there are few holy experiences that I've had that matched the morning we were privileged to spend at Mother Emanuel.
Early in the service, the Rev. Manning asked all of the visitors in the pews to rise, and when Shelley and I did, we noticed that there were as many visitors as there were members on this Sunday. ... Regardless, we all were heartily welcomed.
What an audacious act of faith from people who couldn't be blamed for wanting to exclude strangers after one worshipped among them at a bible study, and then went on a shooting rampage, killing nine of their loved ones.
In the days since that horrific night in 2015, the congregation could have reacted in any number of ways, I suppose. The most logical it seems would have been to withdraw from the wider world to protect their own.
Instead, however, this historic black church embraces strangers with deeply genuine hospitality. In fact, its people even declare that they will pray for you! ... And with lovely warm smiles they invite you to pray for them.
Dig into the deep history of Mother Emanuel church, and you'll see where today's members find their resiliency. For some 200 years, members have had to fight with their lives for the right to worship and come together.
No wonder this current membership has chosen to respond to tragedy with love. They already know a little bit about overcoming.
That is a faith woven so deeply into the DNA of its members, and a trust in the Deliverer few of us can understand. What a special honor to worship among them for a day. Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.