Wilmington pastor: ‘No, we will not stand idly by’

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington pastors and community members are sending their prayers and support to the Charleston community after a fatal shooting at an AME church there.

People from different races and denominations sat together at St. Stephen AME Church with heavy hearts Thursday night as they held a prayer vigil.

“To say that, no, we will not stand idly by and let this vicious kind of hate crime be committed and the ministers and the people of congregations just remain silent,” St. Stephen AME Pastor Wayne Johnson said.

Pastor Johnson lost two friends when a man shot nine people to death at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston Wednesday night.

“Both were fathers, a grandfather in Reverend Simmons’ case,” Johnson said. “They were very wonderful men, very wonderful men.”

For those men and the entire Charleston community as a whole, each pastor who attended the vigil stood up and said their own prayer. One prayed for the shooter and the hatred behind this crime.

Rock Church Senior Pastor Bryan McGee prayed for this nation.

“This nation is divided,” McGee said. “We are still such a racially divided nation. My prayer tonight was that God would have mercy on us and forgive us as a nation.”

McGee also said churches are supposed to be safe.

“I believe that it should be whether Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu that you should respect those places where they worship, so that it can be a safe place,” McGee said.

Pastor Johnson said he will be going to Charleston soon to support his AME family for a memorial service there.